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Chile and Its Time Without Children

First comes love, then marriage and after that, family. That is something that people

would have posed as something exemplary on the past. Nowadays, in couples, it is not a

priority to have children, but rather lead a different life, more relaxed and somehow freer.

Before, the majority of Chilean population, had a very high number of children,

approximately, the data fluctuated between six to fifteen children. This was due to many

reasons, within them, and the most relevant one, was the scant ways to prevent pregnancy

and the lack of contraceptives, so practically the only option left was abstinence. Do you,

now, imagine with that amount? Every day it is more complex to keep the children, and this

problem is due to various reasons, among them we find, hard and great demands and

responsibilities of children, increase overpopulation and climate change, the huge economic

demands and the different priorities of people, so that women and men decide to postpone

their pregnancy and even choose not to have them. Due to overpopulation, economics

demands, climate change, demanding responsibilities, and different times, women should

not have children.

Being a mother is undoubtedly a fact that marks the life of a woman forever, with a

blatant before and after. The fact of ceasing to be the protagonist of your life, of ceasing to

be the priority, of saying, I would love someone more than myself, is definitely an act that

many are not clear about and why they decide to adjourn and in many cases cancel

motherhood. Conclusions affirmed by the latest Vital Statistics Yearbook published by the

National Institute of Statistics, reveals that women prefer to defer motherhood for fear of

losing job opportunities or because for not having a favorable and stable economic situation

to receive the new creature (Gallagher). People`s priorities have changed, and usually

women are looking for a higher professional careers, more freer lives, a life of travel, so
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that having children prevents and/or hinders these plans. Unlike before, women did not

work and neither study, but rather their priorities were to stay at home, in this way, there

was time to care for and raise a large amount of children. Comparing and taking into

consideration, children, 50 years ago, collaborated much more with the needs of the house,

and that was because there were not all the distractions that nowadays exist, videogames,

YouTube, Netflix, and in general internet, in addition then, later, they also collaborated

with economic situation of the house, since back then there was not that idealized thinking

of becoming independent. People are not prioritizing this lifestyle, referring to having

children, and because of many factors this is being left behind (Woolfson).

As commonly known, maintaining children is not an easy task and much less

economical. In Chile to raise a child in good conditions, considering education, food,

health, housing, clothing, and transportation, a high amount of money is needed. This varies

between $ 155 million pesos for the richest 20%, $46 million pesos for the middle class and

$18 million pesos for people with less income, and this only until they are 18 years old,

without including a university degree (Weliver). Seen previously, it is very expensive to

maintain kids, so the best option that remains is, not having them. Furthermore, world

economy has been in decline, specifically due to the commercial war between China and

United States, this causes repercussions in Chile and makes the economy decrease, making

even harder to produce incomes (Holland). Additionally, taking into account the economic

difficulties that Chile is facing, one can detach that there is also a tendency for

unemployment to rise, “Unemployment in Chile has risen to 7,3% during the May-July

quarter”, causing even more economic complications when it comes to sustain children

(Van Der Spek).

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On the other hand, the substantial demands of a child, is another factor that

contributes to the idea of not having them, they require total attention and adherence.

Surely many have been in positions in which they wonder, how will our parents have done

it, or what obstacles and difficulties does one have to face? Kids, undeniably, are a huge

responsibility; first, the duties as and adult such as, maintain the house or maintain the job

or the company if you have one, are added and directly related with those of raising a child.

Second, in the reality of today, both parents work, this makes the work even harder and

probably more expensive, since an external help would be needed, which would imply

extra money. Third but not least, digital distractions that are currently flowing on today's

reality are making kids less collaborative and concerned with the housework, doing

otherwise to face realities which previously did not exist, as the internet, where cyber

bulling appears, or the vice of videogames which definitely make much more complicated

this activity. As seen before, being an adult is not something effortless, and less more with

a kid. It is known that many of the people who have children develop a disease known as

“burnout parental”, stages of depression or extreme exhaustion and stress, so that many are

frightened and prefer to abstain from this action (Gillett).

Overpopulation and climate change are other huge factors of this thematic.

Overpopulation, understanding it as, “an undesirable condition where the number of

existing human population exceeds the carrying capacity of Earth”, is a colossal aspect that

is affecting the world and specifically Chile in this case. According to the National Institute

of Statics, Chilean population has grown by almost 15% in the last 15 years, reaching over

17 million inhabitants (Cocker). Having an overpopulation can lead to many serious

consequences, within which we find, depletion of natural resources, rise in unemployment,

degradation of environment and many more. This last one, referring to climate change, is
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one of the ones that has been affecting the world the most during recent times. Scientists

have predicted that if there is no care right now of the environment, it is estimated that for

the next century the situation will become irreversible (“Climate”). The data before

mentioned, causes concern, and if the levels of overpopulation continue to increase the

problems can become very serious. Detaching that the best path is lower birth rate, and

going directly to the point, stop having children. Leaving procreation aside, the risks and

then all the problems that overpopulation entails would notoriously decrease and probably

in the future to be avoided.

People on the past would have definitively posed procreation as something

exemplary. Nowadays, this is not a priority. Birth rate in Chile had decreased, and quite a

lot. The economic situation and the world’s economic decline has undoubtedly contributed

to the decrease of it. People, specially women, no longer have the same preferences than

before, so motherhood has shifted from the priorities of them. Stress and hard work are

other factors that contribute in the idea of not having children. The new decade of today

and the various problems that we are facing, such as overpopulation and climate change,

also causes alertness and displace this activity. The prolongation of satisfaction no longer

lies in having children, lifestyles have changed so that people too. Having children is not

longer a preference; therefor, women should not have children.

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Works Cited

“Climate Change Long-Term Consequences.” Ocean & Climate Platform, 3 Dec. 2016,

ocean-climate.org/?p=3899&lang=en. Accessed 4 June 2019.

Cocker, Isabel. “Chile's Population Swells to 17 Million.” The Santiago Times, 1 Sept.

2017, santiagotimes.cl/2017/09/01/chiles-population-swells-to-17-million/.

Accessed 4 June 2019.

Gallagher, James. “'Remarkable' Decline in Fertility Rates.” BBC News, BBC, 9 Nov.

2018, https://www.bbc.com/news/health-46118103. Accessed 3 June 2019.

Gillett, Rachel. “7 Reasons People Shouldn't Have Children, According to Science.”

Business Insider, Business Insider, 27 Nov. 2017,

www.businessinsider.com/why-people-should-not-have-children-2017-11.

Accessed 11 May 2019.

Holland, Ben. Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, 27 May 2019,

www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2019-us-china-trade-war-economic-

fallout/.Accessed 4 June 2019.

Van Der Spek, Boris. “Unemployment in Chile on the Rise, as Bankruptcy among Chilean

Companies Skyrocket.” Chile Today, 5 Sept. 2018,

www.chiletoday.cl/unemployment-in-chile-continues-on-rampant-spike/.

Accessed 4 June 2019.

Weliver, David. “The Cost of Having a Baby.” Money Under 30, 27 Mar. 2019,

www.moneyunder30.com/cost-of-having-a-baby. Accessed 12 May 2019.

Woolfson, Richard. “Why Your Baby Needs so Much Attention.” MadeForMums,

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www.madeformums.com/baby/why-your-baby-needs-so-much-attention/.

Accessed 1 June 2019.