Marriage's Financial Pros and Cons

Reader Comments
Back to article

Generally I try to keep a positive & fair view & I can agree with all of you on some point about the children comments. However, not all children will become functional adults thus rendering the social security comment a bit unstable in validity. Some will become delinquents that are actually a burden on society, some will have illness & handicaps that will also be a form of societal burden, some will make barely enough to get by & others will be very successful. The environment is also a concern. Too many humans? I think bringing more humans into the world is a HUGE responsiblity, one that more than 1/2 the people in the US don't take as seriously as I think they should. It is also a selfish decision because that new human did not choose to be here so, the parent better do the job to an optimal degree. Reproduction is a choice but it is also an accident in so many cases. Most people can't even talk about sex in balanced healthy manner with their own children let alone adult to adult. If I'm paying more taxes for someone else's child 1 con maybe I cannot save to prepare for my own & now I must rely on someone else to help. 1 pro is, these new humans are the future of my well being as an older person. I want to make them as optimally functional a human as possible so when I'm laying in a nursing home I'm not only getting great care by an intelligent human being but also spending my last days in the delight of a happy well-respected & respecting human being. II agree that government should not be in the role of shaping societal decisions even if as an accidental outcome. I'm not religious & can see positive & negative history involving marriage history. It is not up to anyone else to determine when I can & can not leave a relationship & a parent should be responsible both physically & economically for their children regardless of whether the parents are married or not. As far as taxation, marriage should not determine discounts but neither should health care as I may have to get married to get affordable health care as Business Group of 1 person w/pre-existing conditions.

Heather of CO 9:46PM August 11, 2011

Really? I have no children either but I am not above the public school system. I am sure that you received some benefit of a public education at some point in your life. Do you not agree with paying taxes for paved roads or clean drinking water? It is easy to complain about government and taxes when you are not directly benefiting from the situation, but perhaps you will think differently when you get some water from your sink. Come on.

LHSD of SD 4:24AM October 29, 2010

Make marriage private. Keep it out of the hands of the government. Make it just a private contract between two (or more) people. Rights, privileges, and entitlements between the two can be spelled out in the contract.

Chris of AL 4:35PM September 29, 2010

Great post! Really good insight. It’s always difficult to discuss finances and share money in relationships. Thanks for your advice. I recently stumbled upon this blog like I stumbled upon yours. I think they offer some good points and laughter about the topic: http://burisonthecouch.wordpress.com/2010/09/22/dolla-dolla-bill-yall/
Thanks for the post! I’d like to see more like it.

Martha of IN 11:30AM September 22, 2010

That is a circular argument. I have no children, but my tax dollars pay for everyone else's. If I wasn't paying such high taxes for your kids' schools, etc, then I would not NEED your kids to support me via social security when I'm old. So actually, your kids' contributions to social security will be *reimbursing me* for everything of theirs which I pay for now, while they were growing up.

JD of AZ 4:15PM March 25, 2010

The culture having the most money to afford multiple children will eventually over populate the country there by controlling how your country is run by possibly stacking the house and senate and passing laws supported by their cultural's belief. Just a thought but possibly realistic.

Andria of FL 1:34PM March 25, 2010

Pro family and anti family. The marriage penalty could make up for the parent handout for children. But, it is not ethical to have either. We should tax parents more, for each child they have (it costs all of us to support the infrastructure for children) and marriage should have no influence on taxation. Even if you disagree based on your philosophy, it is your philosophy. Government should not be in the role to shape societal decisions of this type.

DN of MD 11:24AM March 25, 2010

Having children will earn income that will contribute to your social security later on

Anonymous of TX 11:17AM March 25, 2010

Even though I'm married with kids, I totally agree with you. Why the heck should the government be giving handouts to have kids when the planet already has way too many people. All tax credits for this should disappear.

Ardy of CA 10:52AM March 25, 2010

Having children is a life choice between a couple. I do not believe that the government should be giving tax breaks for choices. If you think about it my choice not to have children is saving the government a significant amount of money (healthcare, education costs, etc) so one could argue that I should be given a tax break for saving the government money by not bringing a child into our society!

Michelle of VA 11:15PM March 22, 2010