> but the highest fertility rates are pretty consistently recorded in impoverished and conflict-torn countries Lack of birth control. > The problem isn't that

> but the highest fertility rates are pretty consistently recorded in impoverished and conflict-torn countries Lack of birth control. > The problem isn't that people in the West need to make greater sacrifices to raise children. The problem is that the standard that you’re expected to meet in raising a child is significantly higher. Is it biologically required that you have full time coverage of someone watching your toddler? No. Is it legally required? Yes. Do most grandparents want to be live in caretakers to young children? No, they have better things to do. Do you have to pay a fortune for the service? Yes. Is it biologically required to meet a certain standard of living to raise a child, a standard that generally requires 2 parents salaries in the west? No. Is it legally required? No, but you might sets them up for failure later in life, and means they’ll struggle too when they get to be your age. The whole thing is people who want to be parents have a drive to make sure their kids live at least as good a life as they did (or at least should). If that seems financially hopeless in the west… we have effective birth control and can delay until it is possible. Sometimes the point in time when you are financially stable enough to have children is also the point at which you are biologically unable to have them (everything is more difficult after ~35 or so). If there’s no promise of financial stability any time is as good as any other. Fixing the “problem”is a complicated mix of social/psychological problems and financial problems related to wealth inequality. Blaming millennials or whoever for being selfish is a bad take.