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Are pets replacing kids?
AirTalk producer Lucy Copp's pampered pup, Leaf, seen enjoying being an only child.
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Lucy Copp
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Topline:
Conventional wisdom (and Pope Francis) have suggested that as people increasingly forgo having children, pets are becoming surrogate kids. But a recent working paper out of Taiwan challenges this notion, suggesting rather that having pets can help prepare and even encourage people to have children.
The local angle: Here in L.A. (and at LAist), treating pets like your own kids is par for the course. We recently heard from AirTalk with Larry Mantle listeners about their own relationships with pets and children, revealing multiple and nuanced perspectives on whether they feel pets are replacing children.
Megan in Sierra Madre and her husband experienced infertility and couldn’t have kids. She reads to her pets, and even has wrapped a Christmas present for her dog this year. “I feel like our dog makes us a little family,” she said.
Marty in Fullerton is an estate planning attorney. He shared that planning for pets after their owners’ death comes up in his practice. “It’s a much more elaborate plan for the pet for somebody who doesn’t have children,” he said.
Lisa in Agoura Hills has both children and a dog wrote in, “Though the cost of having a pet is comparable, the experience is very different. I can't imagine life without my dog Marlo but he can't express or emote like my girls. He's actually much easier to manage!”
Samson in Echo Park said that pets are good practice for child rearing, saying, “If you can keep a pet happy, healthy and alive, you’re okay to have a kid.”
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Listen to the full segment to hear AirTalk host Larry Mantle's thoughts on how his own take on if pups prepare you for preteens.
Listen
17:47
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