Well, the inescapable fact is that having children has become way too expensive for a lot of working-class people. You either have to be financially well-off, or be popping them out on government assistance, because it’s ‘marginally profitable’ to do so.
Same with the fact that most folks in the western world no longer live on farms, where the more children you have, the more farm workers you eventually have.
Yes, I know I have grossly overs-simplified things, but I think most people get the point. Vague assurances about full quivers and “G-d will Provide” aren’t really things that most people, who can’t pay their bills, are prepared to accept on faith these days.
RE: Well, the inescapable fact is that having children has become way too expensive for a lot of working-class people.
I guess that’s why we have aborted 60 million of our babies.
My Grandfather worked a union job, and my Grandmother worked in a blouse mill, and still managed to have 4 children. Of course they grew up during the depression, and knew how to stretch a dollar.
A friend’s college dropout son got a seasonal job with UPS. I told him that if he stuck around and got into management or driving, that he could actually support a family with a UPS job.
I was informed by the other adults that young men no longer think that way, that two income families were the norm, so getting a decent paying job with benefits was not a goal.
Hard to raise a family with that attitude.
Both my mother and father grew up on farms in the early part of the 20th century. Both families had 10-12 children with one or two dying young When grown, those children had one or two, usually two children. One had three. With a few exceptions, the children of those children had one child, with a few exceptions. So I can see the declining birthrate in my own family.
It's interesting to me that the family that had the hardest, deprived childhood (3 children) turned out to be the one that achieved the most wealth and success. Learning hard work and thrift pays off.