Hacker News Reader

Comment by CompelTechnic | Hacker News Reader

>On average, each millennial parent receives $11,011 per year in combined financial support and unpaid labor, the 2017 TD Ameritrade Millennial Parents Survey found, for an annual total of $253 billion in America.

I wish they had separated the unpaid labor from financial support. Grandparents helping raise the kids is a tradition as old as time; the labor portion is not the surprising part here.

View on HN

That did seem like a really weird framing. It seems like the corollary article would be. "Family ties eroding, grandparents no longer spending time with grandkids"

Having grandparents help raise kids saves a ton of money in childcare costs.

It can be the difference between someone being a stay at home mom/dad vs providing a second income stream for their family.

The financial impact is that big.

Yes, this seems so strange to me as well. Like, true, this is quantifiable in terms of dollars, but there are worlds with out money. The 'family' has always been a world without money (define family as you will).

If anything, having other family members in the child-rearing process is something of a luxury. If you have 'good-enough' parents and siblings, I'd imagine that you'd want the whole family involved.

I can't imagine how toxic a relationship you'd have to have with your family to see child-rearing in terms of dollars and cents.

Yes -- how much unpaid labor of this kind did past generations receive? Without quantifying that, there is no comparative basis here.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com