Strategic Tree

Is the UK too Dog-Friendly?

I'm a regular reader of HumanProgress.org and read this piece recently which really resonated with me:

https://humanprogress.org/promoting-parenthood-in-a-free-society-podcast-highlights

I don't have much to add on the issue of declining birthrates but there was a quote from a woman whom the author ran a half-marathon with that really struck me:

"In the UK, where I live, sometimes when you go into a coffee shop, people almost groan if they see you brought your kids. But in Jordan, she said that when she would walk into a coffee shop or a restaurant, it felt like she had gifted them this child. She felt an overwhelming sense that people were delighted that she had this child there, and she didn’t even live in Jordan. I think this kind of social recognition changes how you think about having children."

I read the article to my wife and we both immediately recognised this feeling of being embarrassed for bringing our two children out to public places, venues, restaurants, shops etc. This sense that you have to micromanage their behaviour lest they disrupt someone else's day. It's pretty exhausting and it occurs even in spaces you'd assume were child-friendly; cafés in museums for example.

Later that day we took the kids out to a local aviation museum and paid the £20 family ticket, plus the £18 fee to actually go inside the cockpits, plus the £9.50 to buy some food at the café...£47.50 later we were sat at our table and I saw the lady serving people in the café walk over to a dog owner and ask them if they would like a free treat for the dog. Look, I know it seems totally petty, but I've just dropped almost £50 (on a museum that used to be free, by the way). Where's my child's free fucking treat?

Which leads me nicely to a statement my wife made: "It seems as though you're far more welcome to bring a dog into a public venue than you are a child."

I don't know the hard statistics on sentiment towards dogs in the UK vs towards children and I suspect it's a tricky set of data to get your hands on. What I can say anecdotally is that I have noticed over the past five or so years a huge increase in the dog-friendly signage you see in cafés and restaurants. You know the sort of thing, "free treats", "four-legged friends welcome", "free water", "we are a dog-friendly venue", etc.

What I don't see are similar levels of public support for bringing your child into these same venues. I get why people love dogs, the same way many people love other pets, and the UK is certainly a nation of animal lovers (we are told). But I can't help wonder whether increasing dog ownership is a symptom of a society that has under appreciated parenthood for a number of years, and created some serious economic disincentives to be a parent as well. Why bother with the aggravation of conceiving a child, navigating the potentially dangerous maternity care offered by the NHS, forking out almost all your salary on childcare, being judged for being either a 'helicopter parent' while simultaneously fearful that you'll let your child play out on the street and be reported to the Social Services for irresponsible parenting? You could save your cash, buy an adorable dog, get constantly approached by strangers fawning over it in the street, and still feel like you're caring for a living creature.

I'll leave you with these figures from Statista, the ONS, and Dogs Trust:

Simply put, can we have less dogs and more appreciation of parents please? This might help improve the declining birthrates too.