off the radar

by rantywoman

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/10/why-women-should-have-babies-before-25/

There are plenty of reasons babies are not on the radar for 20-something women: student debt, the ultra-competitive job market, the precarious nature of work, the high cost of real estate, and the uneven ratio of women to men at universities have contributed to marriage and parenthood delays. A culture of self-actualization, which seems to value personal gratification above all, is emphasized in this generation, making the concept of raising a child seem preposterous to many.

“I think that taking the 20s off the table the way we have done if we want to be upwardly mobile at all doesn’t leave us a lot of room,” said Judith Shulevitz, the science editor at The New Republic whose December cover story ‘How Older Parenthood Will Upend American Society’ stoked debate on the possible costs of having children over 40.

“I’m not saying everybody has to go have babies in their 20s because I wasn’t going to. But I think as a society if we take that off the table for anyone who wants to be part of the upper middle class and a woman who wants to independently be there, not reliant on a husband, it’s tough.”