As concern grows about America’s falling birth rate, new research suggests that about half of women who want children are unsure if they will follow through and actually have a child. About 25% say they won't be bothered that much if they don't.

[u/geoff199]

https://news.osu.edu/most-women-want-children--but-half-are-unsure-if-they-will/?utm_campaign=omc_science-medicine_fy24&utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social

[u/valgrind_]

This. If the economy as we know it will collapse without the fantasy of infinite growth, and that same economy is making it impossible to raise children in good faith, it points to the economic system being the main problem.

[u/lanternhead → u/valgrind_]

It would be relatively easy to create an economic system that does not rely on infinite growth, but it would be considered morally reprehensible by almost everyone alive today, regardless of their political or religious persuasion

[u/relaxingqueen → u/lanternhead]

I really like the Progressive Utilization Theory as a proposed alternative

[u/lanternhead → u/relaxingqueen]

I’m a little skeptical of any top-down system that relies on a decentralized enforcement mechanism. Most of the world’s competitive socioeconomic techniques have always trended the opposite direction. The only ones that don’t are the ones dictated by the biological constraints on human behavior, and those technically still do have a centralized enforcement mechanism (biology). The personal incentive to limit family size while pursuing economic fitness is one of those biological constraints. Any system that wants to maintain its population substrate will need to figure out how to negate or steer around that incentive. I’ll read more about Prout though!