Children are expensive luxuries. Why would you subsidize them when there are 7.4B people in the world, with population momentum on track to arrive at 10B near the end of the century?

Subsidized higher education, universal healthcare, and higher taxes on the wealthiest are still all fine ideas, ideas I fully support. But the world needs less people regardless of those policies. We overshot global carrying capacity, and you can't socialized economic system your way out of that.

Generally speaking, the highest birth rates aren't in the types of counties overrepresented on HN. Our best shot for reducing the global birth rate is improving education in developing nations (particularly women's education[0]), improving access to contraception, and reducing child mortality.

I agree socializing developed nations' economic systems isn't having a huge effect on the global population growth. Focusing on the real problem means investing in the health & development of those with the actual highest birthrates, not making U.S. colleges cheaper.

[0] https://wol.iza.org/uploads/articles/228/pdfs/female-educati...

Birth rates are a component, but so is per capita environmental impact. Lower total fertility rates everywhere are welcome [1], but if one were to prioritize efforts, you'd focus on highest per capita environmental impact (whether that be CO2 emissions, consumption beyond replenishment rate of natural resources, etc).

I'll go so far as to say that empowering women through education and family planning access alone in some countries isn't enough; you might have to provide direct cash payments to assist in developing agency through career development or entrepreneurial efforts. Otherwise, from my research [2] [3], they're beholden to their partner's family wishes (which may not align with their own, and they may not have the safety or security to assert their will).

[1] https://ourworldindata.org/fertility-rates/

[2] https://theconversation.com/family-size-why-some-nigerian-me... ("Family size: why some Nigerian men want more children")

[3] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/africa-s-populati... ("Men also have to relinquish sole control over the decision to have children and refrain from abusing wives or partners who seek birth control.")

Many European countries do most or all of those things and still face the same issue