> I mean, fertility rates have been going down for 50 years; women are having half as many children, and some are so focused on their careers they might as well repurpose their wombs into walk-in closets.
Jesus. That language alone is part of why many women choose to remain child-free. Women aren't living incubators ffs.
> Maybe governments will wake up to the urgency of this issue and start implementing ways to encourage young people to take a look at Ikea's crib catalogue.
And that sentence hints at the problem. My parents could afford two kids on basically one income in the 90's Munich. Me today? Barely two cats on two incomes, and not that small incomes either.
When wages are so low that people struggle to live paycheck to paycheck - in America, almost a third of all [1] - they obviously won't have children if they can prevent having them.
We need significant wage increases, we need actual provisions for parents (i.e. paid parental leave for both parents for at least a year), we need lower rents and lower utility bills.
Oh, and we need lower working hours as well. 8 hours a day is already stretching it particularly with commuting involved, you need time and mental space not just for having sex, but also to actually care for a child.
[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/24/more-americans-live-paycheck...