> Birth rates are also down in European countries where having a child is not a significant financial burden. I dont know about for whole EU, but I have friend

> Birth rates are also down in European countries where having a child is not a significant financial burden. I dont know about for whole EU, but I have friends in Germany / Spain and even people who are both working on some middle IT positions can hardly afford 2 bedroom appartment and a car after taxes. Situation is much worse in poorer countries like Poland or expensive one like Switzerland. Also I lived in UK and have family there. It's not quite EU, but rich country nontheless. And a lot people struggle there just to pay their mortage because with high interest rates their repayments also spiked almost 2x. Friends of mine are on high IT salaries that when average Joe with non-IT offline job making 30% less money. And job market is brutal there too - if you lose your job it's possible to find new one, but you'll land on lower salary.