It feels taboo as a childfree person to admit this but I actually do have concerns about who is going to take care of me when I’m old. The elder care system in our nation relies A LOT on the unpaid care labor of adult children. I just don’t think that’s a good reason to have kids.
“But you’ll have more money!” does not completely put this to rest for me. Neither does “Buy care insurance!” Even if I can afford direct personal care, who is going to advocate for me to get it? Who is going to navigate bureaucracy for me when I’m 80?
“You could have kids and they might still not take care of you when you’re old!” That’s true, but doesn’t solve my problem.
I think childfree people get very defensive about this question because its used as a kind of “gotcha!” against us, but I actually do not feel we can afford to be in denial about this reality. Based on current trends of more people in their 30s stating they intend to be permanently childfree, we are going to see a huge wave of childfree adults hitting the eldercare system at once in a few decades. Childfree people in their 30s should be advocating around eldercare NOW.
European: Americans will be like I’m going to watch a whore movie and eat a hamburger slathered in lard
Americans: it’s true I do do this.
American: British people will be like alright I’m off to eat some wheezy bangers (beans and bread out of a can)
Brit: I’ve seen this reblogged by several people I normally trust so: How mocking British cuisine and dialect has a long classist history and how it became frighteningly normalized on an American (uniquely cruel, uniquely ignorant) internet: a thread. 1/?
