What’s the full list of reasons why people have kids?

The real, the imagined, and the Joneses.

It’s a time of overpopulation, climate issues, and an increasingly confusing labor market. Automation definitely looms. While I do think most women want to be a mom, and I think it’s been the biggest failure of my life to date (among many) that I haven’t done that for any women, I think it’s still worth running down the different reasons why people actually have kids. Let’s see how comprehensive we can get:

The bigger buckets

• Accidentally.
• They come from large sibling groups and want to replicate that.
• Because of their religious views.
• Their mom/grandma/other important life voices told them “this was the path.”

Other notable buckets

• Drinking, drugs sans precaution.
• To keep up with their friends/neighbors.
• General human need for relevance.
• “I want to create something.”
• Belief that children will solve their relationship problems.
• Fear of regret.
• Meet the expectations of others.
• Someone to care for them when…