Reason List: Why are Birth Rates declining?

This post is disorganized in order as I've updated it over several months. Apologies, I can't be asked to organize it.

Going to update this page with reasons I have found around the internet & my own thoughts on why birth rates are trending lower & more random thoughts on this. I will update this frequently if I see something which seems fit. This whole thing is stolen off the internet with minimal original thoughts from me.

So far nothing has worked in fixing birth rates. Financial incentives didn’t work (Hungary), Nordic socialism didn’t work (Scandinavia), restricting women’s rights didn’t work (Iran), totalitarianism didn’t work (North Korea), doing nothing didn’t work (Latin America).

1. It is getting tougher to watch kids as both men & women work. Can't work & watch more kids, one or two is tough enough. Earlier kids were also allowed to hang out freely without parents knowing where they were. With more awareness of crime & less risky appetite of parents to see any harm come to kids, however unlikely it may be, it makes sense that people are having less kids since they cannot watch them. And who can blame them for wanting to work & provide more for their kids? More for lesser kids, do it best. Not risk the slight chance of harm (or minimize). And let's face it, women faced a lot of abuse & assault of their human rights earlier. Something which is unfortunately true even today even though better than earlier. They didn't have a choice and were (and are) often forced to do things which are not ideal for them.

2. Life spans are longer so even though "birth" rates might decline, more people. Though it is a real concern when old people outnumber young ones.

3. We still have 8Bn+ people. It is not that big of a deal. Though rising real estate demand and prices as a function of population is a major factor. People won't have many kids since they don't have much space. They have to think about mortgages & rents.

4. Automation will help solve the potential labor shortage issues.

5. Dune: "Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them." I hope this does not come to pass.

6. Children clothing, education, toys, healthcare etc. is also insanely expensive. Function of high populations & demand. It is all linked.

7. Better birth control drugs & methods of course. This wasn't a choice earlier. Probably the biggest factor on this list.

8. Social media. We try to compare ourselves with the world. How good they have it, what they are doing, where they are going. We try to match it, expensive vacations, best education, clothing etc. for our kids. Which makes us think we need to have lesser kids to give them for those luxuries. This is also true for why dating is a disaster as it sets unrealistic expectations by the way. And definitely a factor of expectations of what you do for your kids.

9. At the end, it is not that big of a deal. We have enough people. Let's focus on getting them a good lifestyle. Enforce law & order, fight evil ideologies that plague us.

10. Finally, a ridiculous idea that floats is sex with Robots. They say it will make women not get men as men choose robots, but I think it is the opposite. Women will choose robots who cater to them, appeal to their physical & emotional needs better than men & might make this "crisis" worse.

11. Another point I don't see mentioned is the massive education campaigns. Right around the time China did its One Child policy, the whole world was basically educating kids that overpopulation is bad, we are too many, environmental impact etc. This obviously had an effect on children's psyche who were told having too many children is bad. Adults too, chose to have fewer kids.

12. Inheritance disputes: Have seen it many times. Families fighting over money & ancestral property. Things getting really ugly. So people choosing to have fewer kids to not have them go through this & give them as much as they can.

13. Concerns over public spaces: This is more true for emerging economies but free space for kids to hang out is reducing. Just not as much space to hang out as parks get replaced with Apartments which is ironically a direct result of population explosion. You cannot have kids hanging out safely and it kind of relates to #1.

14. Hitting kids: Has become a bit of a dogma to hit kids, which allowed parents to discipline kids easily. Now, a lot more energy is required hence parents choose to limit themselves to fewer kids. I am not advocating for hitting kids, just an observation.