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Having Choice

Looking back, my cousin P was always a trend-setter in her quiet and unassuming way. Most people missed her fierce independent spirit under the unassuming exterior. I learned a lot about how to to live a meaningful life without needless attention - not sure if that was the right lesson to learn but it is one that has served me well for the most part. P was never one to make waves by her actions but the way she has lived her life has always been ahead of her times. When we were in our twenties and dreaming of marriage and kids, P was telling us she would never have kids because the world was a miserable place and there was no need to make someone suffer needlessly. 

P is great with kids but has never had any of her own and has remained single because this choice was not commonplace back in our time. She was not able to find a man who was comfortable and even subscribed to her world view, in later life she says it too much work to adapt to another person and there are no guarantees that the effort will be worthwhile. Most people dismissed P's views on parenthood as strange today it is  far more common and the plight of millennials  transcends any one country

Money has long been a reason why many millennials, who have long been facing an affordability crisis, have put off having kids or not having them at all. Recessions — like the financial crisis and coronavirus downturn the generation has experienced back-to-back — typically have the strongest economic influence on birth and fertility rates. 


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