Not in the USA. We get a break on taxes, but that's it. In every other possible way, it's an overwhelming burden that far outweighs that tax credit. I think I get 3 or 4 thousand more than my comparatively carefree childless friends every year on my tax return. But...
Based on the most recent data from the Consumer Expenditures Survey, in 2015, a family will spend approximately $12,980 annually per child in a middle-income ($59,200-$107,400), two-child, married-couple family. Middle-income, married-couple parents of a child born in 2015 may expect to spend $233,610 ($284,570 if projected inflation costs are factored in*) for food, shelter, and other necessities to raise a child through age 17. This does not include the cost of a college education.
https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2017/01/13/cost-raising-childThis doesn't appear to include the hospital fees associated with childbirth, which are drastic and rising quickly. Employers that offer maternal leave typically make it unpaid. That alone is a gigantic pit to fall into. And I never found any benefits besides the tax return to offset this. We got TANF, which gave us a small amount of money to spend on specific staple food items, and IIRC was only offered to parents with infant or toddler age children. When we sought other benefits, a lady at the welfare office literally told my wife that I needed to drop out of school and get a 2nd job.
And there are so many things that effect prosperity, but cannot be assigned a dollar amount.
Few people get more than two weeks vacation and a couple sick days per year, and I've never heard of any employer in the USA that lets you take time to care for your kids without using that up. Your sick days have to cover you AND your kid. Your vacation days have to cover their school events and appointments. You basically don't get actual vacation as a parent. There's compounding effects here from lost opportunity, burnout, and lack of self care. Because employers, who have near unmitigated power over our lives in this country, offer parents and non-parents exactly the same benefits. To an employer, that child doesn't exist, and you are expected to function as an employee exactly the same as someone who is childless. I have struggled through being at work sick for weeks SO MANY TIMES because I had no time left to spend on going home and getting better, and all that time turns into periods of my life where I accomplish nothing but just getting through the day.
Then there's housing. The effect of cost difference between 1 bedroom housing and family housing on life choices cannot be overstated. Two full-time incomes at a decent entry-level position is just enough to scrape by renting a 3 bedroom place. Rent will be at least half that income, unless you live in the cheapest, most unsanitary and dangerous slum. Or driving an hour to work, and putting your kid in atrocious rural schools that will set them up to fail at life. That means you're faced with a choice between both parents working and desperately juggling work and parenting. Or one parent basically sacrificing themselves to carry the family on their backs, while barely getting to be a part of their family's lives.
Meanwhile, a childless couple can rent a 1 bedroom place off one of their incomes. Or each work a part time job. Or both work full time and actually save money. Not live paycheck to paycheck. Put in their hours, then come home and chill. Do whatever they want. Take actual time off for themselves. Pursue life opportunities. Maintain social lives. Take care of themselves.
I always hate it when people complain about the poor spending money on "luxuries" and if they didn't do that they would be less poor. Their are so many reasons that's a horrible way to think.
USA is a country where luxuries are cheap and necessities are expensive. A poor person can easily find ways to save and find various opportunities (sales, giveaways, etc) to get their hands on nice consumer items. And if they gave it all back, it would make a pitifully negligible difference in their ability to support themselves. A nice smartphone that cost half a months rent that is only replaced every 2-3 years is obviously not making a difference in that person's ability to afford rent.
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Topic: AmeriPol thread (Read 4435798 times)