New Baby Boom in the U.S. And Why the Populace Want Kids in Troubled Times

Out of all the media questions asked Nadya Suleman about her desiring all those kids, there never has been a satisfactory answer as to how she expects the harsher times we're living in to be kind to her offspring. Certainly how those kids are able to have a financially stable life (with a mentally stable mother) is foremost, even though the notion gets ignored that kids born today will likely have to face unfathomable challenges in the world bordering on horrific. Despite that reality, people turn it off by choice and expect that having kids will still bring a sense of joy and a forwarding of hope in perhaps the new generation doing something to make things better. Such a philosophy seems to be extant in America as of this writing as the country experiences an unexpected second baby boom since the end of WWII.

Consider then that Suleman is a major component to America's baby boom, despite the increase every other mother having everything from triplets on up to an inevitable nontuplet or tentuplet situation...with no intent on forcing them into showbiz auditions while still fetuses. The fertilization methods used to have children today is quite obviously being abused and going full steam ahead for better or worse. But is there logic to why so many people are having children now in a time when we arguably shouldn't be increasing the world's population?

Because I consider human beings much more complex in how they perceive the world than thinking they're merely delusional or obsessive (as I think Suleman most likely is), we'd probably find a lot more in what forms a personal philosophy than the idea they're turning off the future ills of the world and how it might affect their children. Having children in the present term is perhaps enough of an antidote to tucking away the world's problems, especially when a family has those magical moments together you can't replace with anything else. There does seem to be, however, a real optimism among many people in America that having a lot of children will help our future rather than those children becoming victims of it.

It may not be the same kind of optimism that the first baby boom of the immediate post-WWII years brought. To be more facetious, some might say that the baby boom then was merely the result of husbands being away from their wives much too long while at war and made up for lost time in the bedroom. Of course, unless there was an 18-year extension of virility before the age of Viagra, then it wouldn't explain why the first baby boom lasted until 1964. We all know that the 1950's were a lot better economically than they are now--hence bringing up a generation of baby boomers who didn't really have any concept of widespread economic suffering in childhood. When the baby boom first started in the late 40's, though, economic prosperity wasn't quite as fruitful as it would be later.

Once couples had two or three kids before the 1940's were even over, there had to have been some doubts about what those kids would have to face with the Korean conflict on the horizon and a job market that wasn't always pretty to war vets looking to restart their lives.

Wisely, those kids who lost their innocence in the violence, confusion and war of the 60's and early 70's didn't make record-breaking attempts to increase the world's population when they suspected the rough times they were living through could get worse. Fortunately, it took a lot longer before things grew worse...
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Since many born in the 70's and 80's were kids of those baby boomer kids, there was another generation who experienced a little bit of a respite before chaos erupted. Your humble writer is a product of the 70's and 80's when, outside of a brief energy crisis and inflationary period, there was relative prosperity, better entertainment for kids, no increased crime and a general peace of mind if you were in the middle class. The era wasn't utopia by any means, yet the last era when kids could interact in the world without having to be scared about what was going to happen around them on a daily basis.

Others might argue that the 1990's became the last era where a peace of mind was a reality in many households. Economically, yes--but crime had increased by then, especially in gang activity and, arguably, a downturn in healthy entertainment for kids. Kids born during that era are facing the wrath of what we're going through now. And when there's a good chance things won't get better anytime soon, thinking of an 18-year-old graduating from high school in the year 2028 (notice I didn't mention college being affordable) is one that has as much dread as those trying to raise kids in Europe during the Black Plague.

If we're increasing the population now through the pure of joy of family, then it's the ultimate triumph over things that defy a good life for them down the road. I've noted in several articles this last year how we're starting to become overly complacent to the terrible news we hear about on a daily basis. Call it being desensitized if you want, even though there is something positive about being in that state of mind. We want to keep surviving and having children to keep the world going through the bleakest times and with knowledge that those children will face hardships unlike anything seen before in U.S. history.

The media is saying that the new baby boom is really the result of teenagers getting pregnant more often and living single after the child is born. While part of the baby boom is undoubtedly because of that, you'll find plenty of women in their 20's, 30's and 40's having children with or without a marriage. Statistics also play up the concept that it's simply a higher population in America as the result of more babies being born. That undeniable statistic may explain the numbers, but doesn't explain why all those women are having children. Because of the times, there should be every indication that those people are scratching any glint of an idea in having children.

Even though it sounds like a line from a cloying song from the 70's or 80's, children really are becoming a respite for many people you wouldn't even expect. Because the love for them may be more intense through families and single women because of the times, it might mean a better generation who can cope with the inevitable stresses. We'll have to instill in them a feeling of positivity and a sense of survival if they're going to prosper in their future. And only then would they create their own new baby boom during a time when everybody says it's crazy to be fruitful and multiply...

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/health/19birth.html?_r=1&ref=us