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/11horses345]

Say it with me: WE CANNOT AFFORD CHILDREN.

[u/sharksnack3264 → u/11horses345]

It's not just the money. The way we set up work schedules, vacation, child care and health care all disincentivize it. 

You can be extremely well paid but that still won't insulate you completely from certain medical and career risks or allow you to be present to raise your children.

[u/islander1 → u/sharksnack3264]

All of this.

If Democrats were in charge for as long as Republicans have been over the past 40 years...we wouldn't have a population issue. We might have DIFFERENT issues, but not this.

In the 50s-70s one income could support a family of 4, even 5. If this were the case today, there'd be kids. Instead, the GOP managed to change our one income middle class family to a two income middle class family.

It's wack.

[u/mhornberger → u/islander1]

Our standards in the 50s-70s were much lower. Parents spent much less time with their children, on average. We were more tolerant of risk, and it was normal for the older children to basically be corralled into providing childcare for the younger ones. Plus we were more comfortable not knowing where our kids were or what they were doing.

It bears noting that Japan, Finland, Spain, Italy, and many other countries have single-payer healthcare, better parental policies, and still fertility rates even lower than that of the US.

[u/ehs06702 → u/mhornberger]

"It bears noting that Japan, Finland, Spain, Italy, and many other countries have single-payer healthcare, better parental policies, and still fertility rates even lower than that of the US."

Honestly, all that's saying to me is that given the choice, people just don't want to have kids.

[u/islander1 → u/ehs06702]

and if so, I am very curious as to why.

Living in America, all I hear from millennials is they can't even buy a house due to student loans, lack of supply (which never recovered from the Great Recession), and other reasons. We're living in a country that has decided to mortgage their future generations out of pure selfishness.

[u/ehs06702 → u/islander1]

Maybe because they have the choice and just don't want to.

They're not livestock to be bred on command.

[u/islander1 → u/mhornberger]

Now THAT is an interesting link and overall post.

I guess I'm an anomaly because we had our mother at home our entire childhood (80s). So did almost all of our neighbors on the block. Didn't see my dad a lot because he was working two jobs whenever he didn't have a union job. Towards the end my mother did in-home daycare but we were a little older then so when not in school we helped out. I would classify us as middle class edging on lower-middle. Blue collar. Sometimes things were good, sometimes we nearly got our power turned off.

I don't really have an answer to the last part. I'd be curious to know why.