I think the greatest significance of having children lies in the continuation of life and the experience of life. Raising children to prevent old age is definitely not the main purpose of having children. Children may not be reliable, and relying on others is not as good as relying on themselves. I will explain why I think so with my own examples.

Let's talk about the first point. Raising children is not to prevent old age. Children here generally refer to children, not sons (there are fewer children in families nowadays). Because parents have devoted all their efforts to cultivating their children and accompanying them to grow up. Therefore, when parents are old, whether out of morality or law, children should support the elderly. Moreover, some old people are relatively independent (economically and ideologically) and do not need their children to help them support their old age. For example, my grandfather didn't expect his father or aunt to support him, and my parents once said that they didn't expect me to support them. Children will be grateful to their parents, but at the same time, parents will feel sorry for their children. As long as their lives are passable, they will try to add as little "burden" to their children.

Compare the remaining time of life to electricity

The second point is that the significance of having children lies in the continuation of life. Why is there such a saying that "there are three unfilial things, and nothing is great after"? Whether in ancient times or in modern times, children are still valued. Some people are more advanced in thinking, such as dink doctrine or something. I have a friend who is also a Tinker, but she still welcomed a child when she was nearly 4 years old. In his words, he is very helpless, but the family is old and there is no way. Life will eventually fade away, but if you have children, you can keep life going in another form.

Birth makes life enter a cycle

Third, having children can experience a different life. Some people may feel that their quality of life drops sharply after giving birth, because children need to buy milk powder and have all kinds of care when they are born. If you get sick or something, you have to bleed a lot, but if the child is sick, you have to look at it. Then when the child is old enough to go to school, he will have to work hard on his studies. Until he is admitted to the university, then those parents may be able to really take a break. But later, we have to consider the children's marriage. After the children get married, we have to consider our grandchildren ... Although this kind of life is a little hard, it is full and full of meaning.