Read or listen now | Explore the unlikely link between family size and poor decision-making in modern society, from personal choices to broader societal consequences.
Fiat. The root of all evil. My Dad was one of seven, my Mum one of three (she was 10 years younger), I’m one of two and my Sister has none, so your maths looks correct! (You should be Chancellor..)
Housing benefit doesn’t exist anymore, people have been pushed onto universal credit instead but the housing element is never in line with the LHAs which in turn are completely out of touch with actual rent costs - you also do no get extra benefits for more
Children , similar to China we now have a 2
child per “benefits family” so I feel your first part at least is not correct, families on benefits also can’t afford large families anymore
Correct but this is a result of Cameron’s government when they brought in the benefit cap around 2016. So we are 8 yrs on approx from then. This resulted also in more London folk having to move out of London. The big families prior to this are still supported with their benefits though.
So as time moves on the next generation will fully adopted the reality that they can’t afford as many kids.
I feel we had to tackle this huge distortion in our societal makeup. It doesn’t make sense to pay people to have unlimited kids and removed the link from how you pay for it all. We just grow very unproductive humans. I have seen so much of this in the last 20 years as I house a lot of HB tenants.
The good news is that more people are taking a bit more responsibility for their lives in these less generous times.
Thanks Mr Frisby, the powers of tech! Didn’t want to nitpick but that’s the reality, back in the 80’s/90’s I did know of people in council houses with 10 + kids — I guess that is why the gov. enacted the 2 child policy- this Country is just one giant social experiment for decades now !
Great perspective. I’ve noticed the majority of people buying homes here on Long Island are large families, typically of Asian or Indian descent. It seems they pool their wealth and that’s the only way to actually afford it
The decline of the family can partly be explained with more women entering the workplace over the last 70 years increasing labour supply therefore reducing wages. Add in fiat currency and you now have a situation where mom and dad need to work full time just to pay the bills. Kids are an expensive luxury.
Hello Dominic. With regards to Fiat/QE and money printing; Have you encountered the ideas of Jeff Snider who has a YouTube channel called EuroDollar University? His understanding of the monetary system seems to be far more advanced than any other economists that I've read or listened to. His interviews are easier to grasp than his monologues.
It seems that the EuroDollar system is the largest part that has been missing from the puzzle of why QE has not caused the expected hyperinflation. The offshore USD market is many times larger than the onshore USD market, and this offshore market has been contracting since 2008, more than offsetting any new money created by central banks' QE policies.
In fact, QE can actually create further monetary tightness. In return for their bonds the banks receive reserves from the Fed, which are actually less liquid and less tradeable than the bonds they gave to the Fed. So since 2008 total world dollar supply has been contracting.... Primarily because commercial banks offshore have been contracting their eurodollar supply, and secondarily because the Fed 's QE achieves the opposite of their aims and leads to deflation rather than inflation
Good for you. I have three and wish I’d started earlier. No one told me how profoundly fantastic it was having children (I mean, not every single moment but...).
I feel like, at 42, I’m finally figuring life out. But it’s entailed going against everything I was educated to do and be. We’ve got our society so wrong.
I’m bright, highly educated & was always destined for great things supposedly; scholarships and awards abounded; smash that glass ceiling, girl... but could never find my home in the corporate world. Always consciously “keeping busy & having fun” at the weekend to avoid thinking about how much I wanted to settle down. Finally at 31 I met my husband (wish we’d met earlier.) First child at 32; quit my job after maternity leave to run house and home.
A shameful decision, according to society, and certainly the world I came from. But I couldn’t imagine farming out my childrens’ upbringing to a stranger: the mums I’d known who juggled work and family hadn’t made it seem something to aspire to; more a grim hamster-wheel.
We’re now about to move to a bigger house (selling kidneys etc..) which will have a spare room to move my 84 year old mother into. If we could afford it, I’d love one big enough to fit my in-laws as well...oh for a hacienda.
Fiat. The root of all evil. My Dad was one of seven, my Mum one of three (she was 10 years younger), I’m one of two and my Sister has none, so your maths looks correct! (You should be Chancellor..)
Ha. Thanks Matthew.
Housing benefit doesn’t exist anymore, people have been pushed onto universal credit instead but the housing element is never in line with the LHAs which in turn are completely out of touch with actual rent costs - you also do no get extra benefits for more
Children , similar to China we now have a 2
child per “benefits family” so I feel your first part at least is not correct, families on benefits also can’t afford large families anymore
Correct but this is a result of Cameron’s government when they brought in the benefit cap around 2016. So we are 8 yrs on approx from then. This resulted also in more London folk having to move out of London. The big families prior to this are still supported with their benefits though.
So as time moves on the next generation will fully adopted the reality that they can’t afford as many kids.
I feel we had to tackle this huge distortion in our societal makeup. It doesn’t make sense to pay people to have unlimited kids and removed the link from how you pay for it all. We just grow very unproductive humans. I have seen so much of this in the last 20 years as I house a lot of HB tenants.
The good news is that more people are taking a bit more responsibility for their lives in these less generous times.
Thanks John.
Many thanks for the note. I have amended
Thanks Mr Frisby, the powers of tech! Didn’t want to nitpick but that’s the reality, back in the 80’s/90’s I did know of people in council houses with 10 + kids — I guess that is why the gov. enacted the 2 child policy- this Country is just one giant social experiment for decades now !
Feminism - the endless stench of female bullshine and nosy-parker henpecking - that is what marriage always meant to me.
Kudos for the beautiful pic of the Spanish architecture. You have given me something to dream about!
AI!
Right I get it. Still a beautiful thought, even if an impractical one in middle Tennessee weather. Definitely low time preference architecture.
Great perspective. I’ve noticed the majority of people buying homes here on Long Island are large families, typically of Asian or Indian descent. It seems they pool their wealth and that’s the only way to actually afford it
The decline of the family can partly be explained with more women entering the workplace over the last 70 years increasing labour supply therefore reducing wages. Add in fiat currency and you now have a situation where mom and dad need to work full time just to pay the bills. Kids are an expensive luxury.
Hello Dominic. With regards to Fiat/QE and money printing; Have you encountered the ideas of Jeff Snider who has a YouTube channel called EuroDollar University? His understanding of the monetary system seems to be far more advanced than any other economists that I've read or listened to. His interviews are easier to grasp than his monologues.
It seems that the EuroDollar system is the largest part that has been missing from the puzzle of why QE has not caused the expected hyperinflation. The offshore USD market is many times larger than the onshore USD market, and this offshore market has been contracting since 2008, more than offsetting any new money created by central banks' QE policies.
In fact, QE can actually create further monetary tightness. In return for their bonds the banks receive reserves from the Fed, which are actually less liquid and less tradeable than the bonds they gave to the Fed. So since 2008 total world dollar supply has been contracting.... Primarily because commercial banks offshore have been contracting their eurodollar supply, and secondarily because the Fed 's QE achieves the opposite of their aims and leads to deflation rather than inflation
hahahhaa. Thanks Tony! Brilliant.
Good for you. I have three and wish I’d started earlier. No one told me how profoundly fantastic it was having children (I mean, not every single moment but...).
I feel like, at 42, I’m finally figuring life out. But it’s entailed going against everything I was educated to do and be. We’ve got our society so wrong.
I’m bright, highly educated & was always destined for great things supposedly; scholarships and awards abounded; smash that glass ceiling, girl... but could never find my home in the corporate world. Always consciously “keeping busy & having fun” at the weekend to avoid thinking about how much I wanted to settle down. Finally at 31 I met my husband (wish we’d met earlier.) First child at 32; quit my job after maternity leave to run house and home.
A shameful decision, according to society, and certainly the world I came from. But I couldn’t imagine farming out my childrens’ upbringing to a stranger: the mums I’d known who juggled work and family hadn’t made it seem something to aspire to; more a grim hamster-wheel.
We’re now about to move to a bigger house (selling kidneys etc..) which will have a spare room to move my 84 year old mother into. If we could afford it, I’d love one big enough to fit my in-laws as well...oh for a hacienda.
Anyway, thanks. You’re spot on as usual.
Thank you. Great comments
I was taught or somehow imbued this idea from the media, that the goal of life was to have fun, and looking after kids got in the way of that.