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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   8621 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of May 18, 2026

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Would free minivans to all families with 2 kids help?

I someone gave me a minivan, I would have considered a fourth child, though really getting married two years sooner would have helped more with that.

Couldn't you just... buy a minivan?

If you can afford one. Yes minivans are cheaper than total childcare costs but that's not how families make budgeting decisions.

Given how the used car market in the United States has lost it's goddamn mind, possibly not. But I haven't been pricing minivans as of late.

Not in the UK, because it doesn't cover the additional cost of fuelling a minivan (at £1.30 or more a litre) compared to a small family car.

Not in the US, because the problem with minivans is stigma and not cost, in a country where what you drive is the main way you express your identity and social status in public.

You just need to lower the upper age limit for mandatory child seats.

Driving a minivan when you have kids is not stigmatized in the US, although it's lower status for dad than a pickup truck 'it's my wife's car' is a totally acceptable excuse.

The huge SUVs can fit 6 people and aren't looked down on in the US. It's like driving a truck, except there are seats instead of the truck bed.

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