Irish birthrate slumps 22% in a decade

How do those on welfare manage it?

They have the most children and are keeping them going somehow.

Contraception ftw. Strangely enough, when Reagan took over and later Clinton, and federal welfare support dropped, sizes of families receiving welfare shrank. Of course, abortion was widely available the in the US, too.

Having offspring has always been a big economic decision. When the value of the offspring is less than the cost, the family size shrinks.

Nobody is saying that you shouldn’t plan for your later years. I know nothing about elder care in the US.

My experience is in Ireland. I also have colleagues in a similar situation. I don’t know of anybody who has abandoned an elderly parent.

And I wonder how some people can’t understand that some children are happy to take on that responsibility. Again, many of us come from happy and loving homes. We want to be there for our parents. Our family is the most important thing in our lives.

You don’t understand that- fine. Do I expect my own children to look after me? No; I don’t. However, by providing them a happy and loving childhood, I do hope that we will have a lifelong relationship.

There’s nothing moronic about any of this. It’s a dynamic that’s replicated across countless families.

“And I wonder how some people can’t understand that some children are happy to take on that responsibility.”

Nobody is “happy” to take on this responsibility. They do it out of duty and a guilty conscience..

Rubbish. People do it because they love their parents and want to be around them in their final years.

Personally, I can assure you that my family was very happy to be around our parent in their final years. We are all fully aware of how much they did for us and wanted to repay that in some small way.

I’m going to leave it there as I believe that you and I have very different outlooks on family and life experiences.

A better life to those on welfare than those paying the bulk of income tax is not a symptom of "conservative policy"

Calling people "morons" is a bit much. Everybody here is trying to predict a future they can't possibly foresee. Some people are hoping that when they reach their old age everything will work out for them re: kids looking after them in their own home. Others are hoping that when the time comes they can just pick an old folks home and everything will be hunky dory there too.

Either way is a fantasy because the simple fact is is that we have no idea what the circumstances will be when, or if, we reach an age where we'd need full time care. I certainly had no idea when my old pair reached that particular age bracket. I always figured they'd drop dead of something before the old folks home scenario happened. They certainly didn't live very healthy lifestyles to justify the ages they reached, especially the old man who'd be 96 this year if he'd hadn't kicked the bucket in 2016. Both of them smoked like troopers, even my mum who'd had a triple bypass too because of her habit and didn't stop. She was hooked up to R2D2 to help her breathe for the last 10 years of her life. That they got to the age they did was a surprise to say the least.

In any case, me and my sister just weren't able to give everything up and look after the pair of them in their own home. Giving up work for 5 years in the case of my mum or 10 years in the case of dad just wasn't an option. And it won't be an option for the vast majority of people either. It's a nice idea, but it just isn't practical in most cases. So they had to go into a home. Where, in fairness, they received excellent care and wanted for nothing. But then again, my folks were always make do'ers. Probably something they learned during the war and it stuck. They'd little in the way of airs and graces and weren't particularly demanding in most respects. So once they had settled with the idea of the old folks home, they just got on with the remainder of the lives.

And that is the reality of old age for more people than not. If there's a situation whereby children can give up ex amount of their own years to look after a parent(s) then that's grand. But it simply won't be happening for the bulk of people. And that goes double if there are mental issues to consider too, like dementia or Alzheimers.

Exactly.

A lot of people have to hock themselves into debt until they are OAP's themselves just to buy a house these days and it takes two to do it. The idea that that can just be abandoned to take care of a parent or parents is just dreaming. Chuck in a kid as well and dear old mum and dad are destined for the old folks home no matter what. That's option A, because option B is simply untenable.

And all that happens if they're lucky enough too. A lot of people will never even come close to owning a home the way things are.

We've destroyed the idea of family in a lot of western countries. We've destroyed a lot of the old concepts. There's no "society" any more, there's just "economies". People aren't people, they're "taxpayers". And it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Crony capitalism more than conservatism

Conservative policies are not subsidies direct to developers to build apartments, nor are they extra money to the unemployed in every budget.

Our government are useless, cronys, serving vested interests, but the idea they are conservative is fairly laughable.

...its starting to collapse now, hopefully theyll be light at the end of the tunnel, but i some how think it aint gonna be easy! what a mess!

not only is there just tax payers, but debtors to, and it aint working! get ready, for something!

Its funny how, until you have your own children, you really don't realise what that bond feels like.

I've never felt such strong emotions as when our first child got ill during a summer holiday abroad and the utter feelings of panic, despair and sadness as he could barely make a whimper. He got better and we've had two more since but the memory stuck with me. Our youngest who is six wont leave the house for school without declaring "morning hug" at the top of her lungs everyday :)

Other peoples kids well, its hard to feel the same, but that's the point.

My wife works as a healthcare assistant in a nursing home and she commented before on how sad it is to see the residents there that never get any visitors and spend their last days alone.