# Parents of Young Children: Do You Worry About Their Future? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 19, 2011, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233 "2011-03-19T05:11:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/21 "2011-03-20T02:16:33Z")
> [@Tarwater](#): > > This is not homework. That’s good, because otherwise some of us would need to ask for a ten-month extension 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Otocor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d07c76/32.png) [@Otocor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otocor)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/22 "2011-03-20T02:24:57Z")
I do not worry about their future as much as I worry about our (and my) future because of them. Children, are - in short - some of the biggest drains on the economy and ecosystem on the entire planet. Yes, people who drive the big cars and trucks do plenty of damage too, but consider the environmental impact each newborn has upon birth alone. That one hospital room, no doubt, requires thousands upon thousands of watts of energy to bring into this world what? A mass of helpless cells that will deprive the parents of thousands of dollars in just its first two years alone and waste literally tons of natural resources from our already waning ‘stockpile.’ ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/23 "2011-03-20T02:47:46Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > I’m not terribly worried about my kids’ ability to get along in the world. I’m more concerned about what they’ll find when they get there. This. And not just when they are young. The world just doesn’t _get_ it - my kids are _good_. Everyone else can see it - me, my wife, their grandma and grandpa, their friends. The rest of the world doesn’t see that, and it concerns me. Hey, universe - shape up! Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/24 "2011-03-20T03:02:57Z")
The Firebug was born in 2007. He could easily live until A.D. 2101, long enough to hear those dread words, “you have no chance to survive make your time.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/25 "2011-03-20T03:07:02Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > 1. You are not considering a projected population of 1 billion people living in America Well, I would imagine not, since that is positively ludicrous. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/26 "2011-03-20T03:21:40Z")
[All the time](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=600624). Okay, not really. My girl is cool, and I’ll do my best to raise her to be kind and hardworking and happy. But if she’s not all these things, my worrying about it now isn’t going to change it. Apocalyptic visions of the future are more of a cultural neurosis than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/27 "2011-03-20T03:28:17Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Where did you get 1 billion people in the US? The 2050 population will be about 400-450 million from what I’ve read. > . Correct, it will be 400 to 450 by 2050. … and then it will double from 400/450 in 2050 to increase to over 1 billion people by the end of this century. The population of the United States is projected to be over a billion people before the end of this century. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/28 "2011-03-20T03:35:47Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Even if the US had a billion people, which it won’t, you don’t need a billion jobs. Newborns and retired people don’t work for pay, neither do housewives. In the US we have about 315 million people and about 130 million jobs. > . 1. Newborns grow up to be adults in less than 20 years and they also need jobs. 2. The problem with Social Security and private pensions, is that there is not enough money to give to all retirees, therefore, we are going to have to raise the retirement age to 70 or 75, which means that old people will need jobs also. 3. As far as housewives, where have you been? Women in today’s world have, and need, jobs. 4. Having only 130 million jobs for 315 million people is not a good thing, it is a problem. Likewise, before the end of this century having only 200 million jobs with over 800 million people unemployed will be a serious problem. Bottom line: with today’s immigration/population increase rates, we are going to need to add 800 million jobs . Where are those jobs? …esp if we dont have any factories anymore? ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/29 "2011-03-20T03:42:18Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Much of our debt is due to the recession. Theoretically, once the economy improves (who knows when that’ll happen, the job market has been collapsed for 3 years now and isn’t improving at all), the deficit will go down. Your statement is incorrect. In fact, deficit spending is projected to be worse and worse, and there is no end in sight to the continued endless borrowing of trillions and trillions and trillions of more and more dollars. Furthermore, nobody is proposing to stop borrowing, let alone reduce the debt. \*\*\*The Congressional Budget Office on Friday released its analysis of President Obama’s 2012 budget proposal and found it does less to rein in deficits and the debt than the administration had estimated. CBO estimates Obama’s plan would produce 10 years of deficits totaling an additional $9.5 trillion of new debt.\*\*\* [http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/150737-cbo-obama-budget-worse-than-claimed-on-deficit](http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/150737-cbo-obama-budget-worse-than-claimed-on-deficit) . ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/30 "2011-03-20T03:42:20Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > Correct, it will be 400 to 450 by 2050. > > … and then it will double from 400/450 in 2050 to increase to over 1 billion people by the end of this century. The population of the United States is projected to be over a billion people before the end of this century. Having trouble with the math, are you? Lemme help: 1. You said “50 years from now.” To solve 2011 + 50, note that all you’re doing is adding 5 tens to 2 thousands, 1 ten, and 1 one. 5 tens plus 1 ten is 6 tens; now you have 2 thousands, 6 tens, and 1 one. That’s 2061, not 2100. 2. You said we’d need 1 billion jobs in 50 years. Assuming you meant 89 years, that begs the question of what technological advances will allow newborns to join the workforce. 3. Assuming you meant, say, 500 million jobs in 2100 (because about half the population is employed at a paying job), your math is still remediation-level. Would you have looked at the 1900 US population of 75 million and wondered where on earth we’d find 150 million jobs in 2011? Hopefully not, because you would have realized that as population increases, needs increase concomitantly. 4. You’re right that population estimates for the US by 2100 are 1 billion–at the very high end. [Mainstream prediction is 570 million](http://www.census.gov/population/projections/nation/summary/np-t1.txt), with a low end of 282 million. 5. Drawing predictions about population trends in a century is a fool’s errand. Immigration/emigration, technology, and cultural shifts are unpredictable and have huge impacts. Hope this math lesson helps! ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/31 "2011-03-20T03:44:24Z")
Originally Posted by Susanann 1. You are not considering a projected population of 1 billion people living in America > [@RickJay](#): > > Well, I would imagine not, since that is positively ludicrous. I agree, increasing our population to a billion people is ludicrous. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/32 "2011-03-20T03:50:31Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Having trouble with the math, are you? Lemme help: > 2) You said we’d need 1 billion jobs in 50 years. > > Hope this math lesson helps! No I didnt. I said the population of the United States is projected to be a billion by the end of the century. EVERY…SINGLE…ONE… of all those billion people will need a job, and that adds up to a billion jobs around the turn of the century, less than 90 years away now. A billion people, a billion jobs. Hope this math lesson helps you. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/33 "2011-03-20T03:56:23Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > 20k a year is only about $10/hr full time. It is not impossible to get. > . Millions of people today, already, find that it is currently impossible to get a $20,000 a year job, and we only have 300 million people right now. Just wait until with our population increases we have 400 million people, or when we have a billion people all wanting jobs. Anyway, you never told us where all these millions of available jobs today are, and what employer today has millions of job openings paying $20,000.00 a year. (Please give specific names of companies, and their locations of all these jobs) ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/34 "2011-03-20T04:15:45Z")
Of course I am. I worry about whether they’ll be healthy, intelligent, successful, happy - all of that. I also worry about the world they’ll grow up in. As a fairly centrist to liberal person, I’m uncomfortable with the seeming direction toward conservatism this country has taken, particularly with respect to social issues. I’m not sure I want my kids to grow up in a country like this one anymore and we’ve given serious thought to leaving the country and taking up residence somewhere else. We’ll probably stay, though - middle-class, white-collar jobs are easier to find here for us than anywhere else, though we may retire to a different country. Plus, every country has its challenges; I’m sure if we moved to New Zealand or something, we would still have concerns, albeit different ones than we have here. The grass is always greener and all that. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/35 "2011-03-20T04:20:02Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > No I didnt. > > I said the population of the United States is projected to be a billion by the end of the century. EVERY…SINGLE…ONE… of all those billion people will need a job, and that adds up to a billion jobs around the turn of the century, less than 90 years away now. > > A billion people, a billion jobs. We had around 300 million people in the US in 2006. Do you think we had 300 million employed people in 2006? (or in other words before the recession hit) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/36 "2011-03-20T11:12:11Z")
[Some avuncular advice](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=601400) for those trying to show **Susanann** the error of her ways. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/37 "2011-03-20T13:32:36Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > I said the population of the United States is projected to be a billion by the end of the century. EVERY…SINGLE…ONE… of all those billion people will need a job, and that adds up to a billion jobs around the turn of the century, less than 90 years away now. I hate to break it to you, but here’s the sad news. Grandpa is gonna die. So when little Bobby is born in 2100, he won’t need that job that Grandpa has. And by the time Bobby is old enough to need a job, Grandpa’s gonna kick the bucket. We won’t need a billion jobs until the population is around 2 billion. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/38 "2011-03-20T14:34:24Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > The United States is going to be \*\*HUGELY!!! \*\* into debt, bankrupt, poor, overpopulated, lots more crime, lots less available jobs, polluted and dirty, higher taxes, high inflation/hyperinflation, a worthless dollar, more laws more regulations more searches less privacy less freedom, civilian gun ownership/self-defense will be illegal, food shortages, water shortages, oil and energy shortages, and the chinese buying up all the nicest places in America. > > There will much less jobs and much fewer factories in America as we continue “free trade” and NAFTA CAFTA even though at the same time the population in the USA will be over 1 billion by the end of the century because of continuing record immigration from third world countries. > > With no money no jobs and too many people living here, the infrastructure in America, roads, bridges, dams, schools, hospitals, and the United States military will all deteriorate into shambles and the liberal Democrats and communists will control all political offices and whites and Christians will be a small minority and politically insignificant. > > With the US military/World Policeman gone, there will many wars everywhere all the time, and there will be another huge World War, along with several limited nuclear wars esp in the Middle East and in asia. > > The future is going to be very different for your children and your grandchildren. Prepare them for it. So… you’re saying parents should guide their children into careers in crime or the government (perhaps immigration, seeing as we’ll have all those newcomers?), convert to Satanism, and join the Democratic party? Cool! Thanks for the hot tips. Let’s see… I’m _already_ a “non-Christian” with Democrat leanings… now if I could just change my ethnic identity… Frankly, \*\*Susanann, \*\*your insinuation that the only real Americans are white, Christian Republicans just makes me want to say - well, YOU folks are the ones who got us into this mess. After all, you’ve had the reins of power more often than not over the past few decades. Maybe someone else actually can do better than you lot. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/39 "2011-03-20T16:00:31Z")
I suppose my kids don’t count as “young” any more (they are 11 and 17), but now, my occasional worried nights are mostly things specific to them as people and not general existential dread. The 17-year-old has discovered his motivation, is doing well in school, has a crowd of friends and a good idea of where he wants his life to go, at least this week. But he has epilepsy - well under-control - yet I worry that he’ll get so busy he will forget to take care of himself and have another seizure in a dangerous place. The 11-year-old is smart and funny, as sweet as the day is long, wouldn’t hurt a soul - but he is an introvert who doesn’t always “get it” socially and I worry that he’s going to have a rough time of it until he either figures out the social code or gets better at faking it. Getting back to the big picture, though, I believe they’re going to be fine. They are both capable, intelligent, and adaptable - and those three characteristics are going to be particularly valuable in the future, whatever it may bring. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233/40 "2011-03-20T16:52:05Z")
Yes, as as Dangermom said, worried about what they’ll get when they arrive. Not worried like Susanann is though. My kids aren’t white Christians to start with. I suspect they will have far more of a European existence than I’ve had as we reestablish our consumerism expectations. So that is how we are trying to raise them. Its difficult though to swim upstream against Americanism. They are bright enough and adaptable. But lazy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-young-children-do-you-worry-about-their-future/575233.md?page=3)