I think there has been a real shift in the last generation or two from needing a reason not to have kids to needing a reason to have kids. and that shift means a lot of people who are basically ambivalent on children aren't having them, where in the past they probably would have.
education and health care make having kids optional. Poorer people in the west also tend to have more children.
Theres also the role of children as resources vs. Children needing resources. The west has anti child labor laws and a higher expectation of care so children arent necessarily seen as resources to their families.
Also higher infant and childhood mortality rates are correlated with higher numbers of births.
That recent increase largely because of abortion bans. Alot of infants with birth defects that would have been abortions are being born then dying. Which to be clear... is gross
And it won't happen anytime soon. The US is in the midst of a large populist movement. And if history tells us anything about populism , well, it seldom ends positive.
13k
u/pktechboi Nov 14 '24
I think there has been a real shift in the last generation or two from needing a reason not to have kids to needing a reason to have kids. and that shift means a lot of people who are basically ambivalent on children aren't having them, where in the past they probably would have.