[Qem]

> because teen pregnancy happens out of wedlock with the fathers usually disappearing

Usually disappeared. Once DNA tests were invented, it became straighforward to go after them. Underrated breakthrough to support children and single mothers.

[toomuchtodo]

https://www.ncsea.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Quick-Facts...

In the US, there is ~$115 billion worth of child support debt outstanding. Even with DNA testing, we’re not going after the folks who aren’t supporting their offspring, mostly because they are low income and have nothing to take to satisfy these debts.

https://www.aecf.org/blog/child-support-statistics

> Yet, 2020–2022 data in the KIDS COUNT® Data Cen­ter reveal that just 23% of U.S. female-head­ed fam­i­lies report­ed receiv­ing any amount of child support dur­ing the pre­vi­ous year (down from 26% in 2018–2020). Female-head­ed fam­i­lies refer to unmar­ried women liv­ing with one or more of their own chil­dren under age 18, which may include stepchil­dren and adopt­ed children.

> One in three kids — near­ly 24 mil­lion kids total — lives with a sin­gle par­ent, most­ly sin­gle moms. In fact, accord­ing to 2022 Cen­sus Bureau data, of the 10.9 mil­lion one-par­ent fam­i­lies with chil­dren under age 18, 80% were head­ed by a moth­er. This makes women the more fre­quent cus­to­di­al par­ent and the major­i­ty of those who need child support.

While fertility rates are down, roughly 40% of annual pregnancies in the US are unintended (per the Guttmacher Institute). There is still much work to do to drive down the rate of unwanted pregnancies.

[em-bee]

yes, but what would be the point? they are still in school too, have no work and no income, so they are not going to pay child support either. the girl is better off without such a guy.

my point is to support couples who actually want to be together to build a family. getting pregnant from a guy you messed around with is not a family. the goal is to prevent unwanted pregnancies by making it easier to have wanted ones in a supportive environment. hunting down a guy who didn't mean to get you pregnant after it happens unintentionally doesn't accomplish that.

[trumpdong]

In some tribal societies, everyone fucks everyone, whatever children are born are born, and since nobody knows who the father is they all care for all of them collectively.

Is it possible this is actually a better model than the nuclear family?

[lelanthran]

If it were a better model it wouldn't have survived in only the most primitive of societies.

[em-bee]

here is a comment thread in another discussion that relates to this question: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48435396

[ben_w]

Even if it is, there's never any guarantee that something which works at the scale of a tribe can be transplanted to a nation of millions.

To a limited extent, the school system itself is how we collectively care for the next generation. How far can it be pushed in the direction you ask about?

[em-bee]

one idea is multi family homes. the idea is that instead if each family having having all their own space for themselves, you have a lot of shared spaces. consider that you need to be private, that's your bedroom and a bathroom. but you can share the kitchen, the living room, a play room, a reading room, a tv room. you don't have to share everything. there is a lot of flexibility in how you arrange the space, but the overall idea is that you have multiple families together, and because you share some things you also get to know each other better and kids can run around and feel at home everywhere. if you need a babysitter because you want to go out, you can simply check in with one of the other families if they are at home, and ask if it is ok if you go out.

the two main benefits are that parents get to know each other better, just like they would in a village, instead of being anonymous like we are most of the time, barely knowing who our neighbors are. and the sharing of resources. my dad loved books and music. i basically grew up in a library. it was nice when i had to make a school report that required some research, but it would not have hurt if those books would have been shared with a lot more people. ok, we have public libraries too, but you get the idea. by sharing resources you are able to get a lot more things that you would not be able to get if you lived alone.

[ben_w]

I've lived in a few things such as you describe and… it's variable. We kinda need a culture that fits them, as people right now are all over the place in terms of responsibility for shared spaces.

Not saying it can't be done, only that this is harder than the Nike slogan (just do it).

[em-bee]

you won't get an argument on that from me. it certainly takes work, good will and a desire for harmony. it takes a close community. that's why my life focus is on community building.

can you share more about the spaces where you lived?

saluton... ;-)