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No, breeding is not mandatory nor should it be. People will have all sorts of reasons for having or not having children and they're all valid as it should be a personal choice. When we decided to have kids (and it was a decision we made prior to finding out it was happening - this is not always the case), we considered the financial impact. Inaccurately, as it turns out, because as @dinosaur says, its virtually impossible to accurately gauge the impact a child will have on your life. 'All eventualities' is an incredibly broad statement - I can safely say that no, I would not be able to take care of my children in all eventualities.
The problem I have is the idea that financial wealth is a requirement to procreation. I mean, do you really want our future generations to be largely made up of tories?!
AlexD-
The problem I have is the idea that financial wealth is a requirement to procreation.
Just to make it clear, this is absolutely not what I was trying to say.
I first became aware of this “we can’t look after our kid when the schools are shut” thing from a couple that have plenty of disposable income so it’s never been about money for me.
M_V
As someone who is intentionally childless I have to ask, why have children then?
Breeding isn’t requirement or responsibility, it’s definitely sometimes the social/hetero normative thing though.
I get that it’s not always going to be easy to break the routine of child goes to school, parent goes to work but I’d have thought that anyone considering having children should ensure they 100% have their ducks in a row and part of that should/would be “do I have the ability (whether that’s flexibility on working hours/leave or family nearby or being able to afford to pay for childcare) to take care of my child in all eventualities?”