Not to nitpick: Fertility rate (FR) in Germany is at 1.50 (2016), up from 1.24 (1994). Other than that you're right. One thing I keep hearing that actually wo

Not to nitpick: Fertility rate (FR) in Germany is at 1.50 (2016), up from 1.24 (1994). Other than that you're right. One thing I keep hearing that actually worked better in Eastern Germany were the government funded expenses to make sure, women stayed financially independent from the father (and family), if need be (as indicated by the fact that Eastern German women that experienced the GDR are usually immune to today's extreme forms of feminism). One thing in particular was that in the GDR day-nursery coverage was at 80%, in cities at 100% and they were completely free (except for the food). FR was higher than in Western Germany during the whole time GDR existed. Note: This is not an endorsement of high government spending or communism. The US trumps all of Europe with their FR while having assumably a far looser social security net [1]. In GDR there also wasn't much choice for where to put your kids and the methods of caring for them were certainly blind to trends like "montessori" etc. I guess, much of FR is due to economic predictability and less to the height of income you predict. [1] For now, since US FR is declining, against the trend in Europe. Also of interest: How much of that rate (US or EU) is inflated by migrants?