... it will go up in the next couple of years.

Especially if they live in red states where getting pregnant carries high risks of non-treatment for complications. This s another argument for why we need immigrants.

before they allow themselves to get pregnant, whether or not they really want a child.

And the associated elevation of clowns like Justices Handmaid and Kegger to the court.

"But muh white babies!!! Lesser races will outbreed us!!!"

Since our species has exceeded the carrying capacity for the biosphere, lowering birth rates is a good thing. Not so much for capitalism but fuck capitalism, it does nothing but accelerate our demise. I only wish Native Americans were increasing in numbers.

3. Socialization has plummeted. The experience of junior high and high school years is a lot more hours on screens and a lot less time getting comfortable and braver about forming friendships and relationships. So young people don’t date anywhere near as much. Many young people seem to be either afraid or indifferent about dating or even having in-person friendships.

2. I strongly suspect that PFAS is having a huge effect on fertility, both in the ability to get pregnant when you try, and in hormones that drive sexual behavior. In the 80s, it was obvious (and an overarching societal theme) that young men were always “on the make” or seeking a girlfriend or “trying to score” or any number of other flavors of sexual appetite. Nowadays, young people refer to guys interested in dating as ‘thirsty’, a bit derisively, as if it was to be avoided to be seen as ‘thirsty’. Hormones, baby, have changed.

1. Some famous woman once said that the #1 turnoff was “anger”. A certain segment of men are caught up in the trump cult, and have become frighteningly angry. Women don’t want to be around all that anger. The political divide in general is one more barrier to relationships.

The economic incentives to having kids is underwhelming and darn near crippling.

You have to have a big income to have a kid these days. Its unfortunate because that does not bode well for our future.

Her reasoning is pretty clear:

The world sucks and it's getting worse. It's already going to be hard to make a basic living. Women's rights are being eroded. What if my kid is queer? LGBTQ+ plus are being attacked. Why would I want to bring a kid in to this world?