Btw, Japan has walkable cities of course but also has low inequality (but not so high wealth). Approximately nothing is known to increase birth rates except for being highly religious though; it seems they mostly collapse when people have anything else to do for fun besides have sex. So basically it's caused by being on your phone too much.
Taking care of kids is not that hard or much of a sacrifice really. It would be super easy if things were even more communal. There's just really not that much great stuff that you are missing out on after like 35/40+. In truth most of the stuff geared to people in that age range is designed for people with kids. I think a lot of people would prefer to have more than 2 kids. The major issue is that SO much stuff is designed for the family of four. Yeah there's 3rd row seating, but it's annoying. Furniture that comes in 2 packs, theme parks, restaurant tables, vacation accommodations, etc. Because of modern life and the things we are accustomed to the logistical management burden of more than two children is very significant.
It's a pretty big sacrifice for a woman to even get one up and running, including the risks, pain, and effort of pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and rearing (sleepless nights). While working.
And 2 parents handling 2 babies/toddlers without help is pretty intense for at least 5 years or so, both are basically on call. It's not like previous generations where there's a chain of older siblings/cousins/etc that can give you a break (that is apparently the role of Youtube these days).
>It would be super easy if things were even more communal.
Probably, but that isn't reality for many people, especially with economic opportunities and growth getting more and more agglomerated.
>I think a lot of people would prefer to have more than 2 kids.
All the data I have seen indicates that this is a minority opinion among women. All across the globe, all across cultures, all across socioeconomic classes, 2 is where most women stop, especially if they get a boy and a girl.
Up here in Canada, according to statistics, only 20% of couples want to have 3+ children. If I recall it correctly, it’s not that they have it, but plan to, which might not even happen due to socioeconomic reasons.
I don’t think majority of young people want to have 3 children though, as you mentioned. Even if I do an extremely unscientific look around in my circles, the number of couples who want that is 0. I obviously might be in a bubble, but it’s a fairly common sentiment especially for my age group.
It’s way easier for me to babble, because if I was a father I wouldn’t have to go through pregnancy period. Statistically it also shows men want more children than women, and that’s fair because it affects our physical health way less.
I'll take the Capitalism and the pills.
I keep seeing this /r/antiwork crap in the most unexpected places around here.
walkable cities
more time off from work
more third spaces
less air pollution
less inequality
of course none of that "increases productivity or GDP" so the ruling class won't consider it. of course when they start dying like Japan with low birth rates, their 'solution' is to have a government funded dating app instead of doing the obvious.