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Comment by works_remote_ | Hacker News Reader

or time off in general. Just a small sample of the cruelty inflicted on people by many companies:

- Significant other or child dies -- too bad, so sad, go without pay.

- Having a kid? Hope you enjoy not being paid while you have that extra medical expenses, or being marginalized. Worst case? You get fired.

- Sick? Sucks to be you.

(More of an aside, but I never personally understood the reason why the economy doesn't better support having children. An every-increasing supply of future consumers is what drives a lot of economic expansion in this country.)

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>"the economy doesn't better support having children"

What do you mean by "the economy"? It is not clear (to me) why employers should pay fertile people more than sterile ones, or those who dislike contraception more than those who use it. Incentivizing child-bearing as a means of increasing future sales is not a good investment, even if we assume that said company will be a going concern by the time the child becomes financially independent.

The solution to most of your issues seems to be increasing the number of opportunities available to people; this would provide them options, and additonal competition between employers would improve treatment of employees. We already see that in-demand employees are treated very well; the key is to make everyone more productive, and increase demand for labor services. How this can be achieved is, of course, a topic of great debate.

If I don't want children of my own because they're ridiculously expensive, why should I subsidize yours? There's no reason a private employer should pay you more because you want a kid.

Children are not personal property, they are a cultural resource, and it is perfectly acceptable to make people invest in the important parts of their culture. If you don't like it, give back all your state-printed social-agreement-enforcing cash and make your own monopoly money to hoard. You, as a participant in an economy, have social responsibilities. Caring for the next generation is a big one.

> Children are not personal property, they are a cultural resource

You're entitled to that opinion, as am I to the opposite one. Thankfully it would appear the United States as a whole is on my side.

Yes, thankfully we have to pay for our own children's education, transportation, food, and healthcare because nobody pays taxes. Truly, this makes the US a wonderful place.

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