toomuchtodo 6 hours ago

https://www.axios.com/2024/07/25/adults-no-children-why-pew-...

> By the numbers: 47% of adults under 50 without kids say they're unlikely to have them — up 10 percentage points from 2018.

> Of those who said they're unlikely to have children, 57% said "they just don't want to."

> Among the other reasons: 44% said they wanted to focus on different things. 38% pointed to the state of the world, other than the environment. And 36% said they couldn't afford to raise a child.

> 13% cited infertility or other medical reasons.

> Stunning stat: 64% of young women say they just don't want children, compared to 50% of men.

The fertility rate is declining to the neutral fertility rate when women are educated, empowered, and have mechanisms to maintain their fertility desires (temporary or permanent birth control).

robocat 4 hours ago

Having kids used to be a peer status signal. Maybe an expensive dog is just as good now?

People are highly motivated to chase expensive status signals (expensive can be time or other resource commitments).

I reckon the better-house-upgrade-cycle drives a lot of the economy. Perhaps less so now, when many people can't afford the down-payment/mortgage. I watch friends working really hard to over-capitalise.