With all the different economic opportunities, it's no wonder that some Americans view childbearing as an additional source of monetary income. During the 20th century, we spread the American dream and pressured Americans to settle down and start families. Before the 20th century, many couples had children, who often then became active in terms of work; children tended the fields or did various jobs around the house to save the family money by avoiding subcontracting. As the population grew, the laws of supply and demand triggered a need for new technologies; this technology made it easier to maintain the population, but also made the need for additional children obsolete. That didn't stop the Americans from breeding. Around the 1950s, the media perpetuated the idea of ​​the quaint family unit; children have gone from being a necessary evil to being a status symbol. Children were no longer expected to help support the family, but rather to be trophies of their parents' competence. Children became an outlet that parents could shape and experience vicariously: the more perfect your child was, the better you were as a parent. The problem is not that people want to have children, but that many cannot afford to take care of their children. Whether you're a young mother receiving help from government programs like WIC or simply taking your children off your taxes, you're using government incentives to procreate. Reproduction is completely natural; However, once supported by government incentives, motivations for having children can take an unnatural turn. Children may be a symbol of love and unity, but this symbol has extended beyond the family unit. Many children have become the responsibility of Unite...... middle of paper ......ho We Are - Children Uniting Nations. Children at the United Nations, nd Web. May 11, 2014. Lennox, James. "Darwinism." Stanford University. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2010 edition). , August 13, 2004. Web. May 12, 2014. Morin, Rich. “The Politics and Demographics of Food Stamp Recipients.” Pew Research Center RSS. Pew Research Center, July 12, 2013. Web. May 11, 2014. United States. US Treasury Department. Historical debt outstanding – Annual: 2000-2012, 1950-1999, 1900-1949. Trésor Direct, 2012. Web. May 4, 2014. “U.S. National Debt Clock: Real Time.” US national debt clock: real time. Np, and Web. May 4, 2014. Wheeler, Peter. “Social Security Programs in the United States.” Programs in the United States. Social Security Administration, July 1, 1997. Web. May 4 2014.