I think that might be true for some people. But I think the real paradox comes from the fact that with higher relative wealth, our time preference as a civilization shifts dramatically. This is why there is an inverse correlation between birth rate and relative purchasing power.
It's a real conundrum, I think.
What’s the connection between time preference and age-at-first-child?
The way I think about it, and this might be over-simplified, is that higher relative wealth tends to lower time preferences, and that crowds out high time preference things -- which having children is.
I know these correlations exist. But I don't have a deep understanding of the subject. I am interested in it, though.
I was once chided by a West African colleague for failing to recognize how much economic value 6 kids would bring me in 20 years.
