> A new paper on America by Melissa Schettini Kearney and two other economists comes to similar conclusions. They think fertility is declining not because of ec

> A new paper on America by Melissa Schettini Kearney and two other economists comes to similar conclusions. They think fertility is declining not because of economic pressures, but because people’s assumptions about life and families have changed. In particular, children are thought to require much more effort and attention than was the case in the past. This mirrors my observations as well. Even in my cohort, most of my peers can afford to have children, but many are choosing not to. Or having fewer. I think something underdiscussed is our generation's obsession with "uncompromise" - you see it in our media, what we demand from celebrities, our policy choices. Something in the way we live our lives publicly makes it easier for people to choose to do nothing rather than risk falling behind their peers. And people have it in their mind that having a kid needs to be an enormous amount of work.