I just realized that I know a surprising number of people over 40 who’ve never had children

What do you think might be the main reason for choosing not to have kids?

I'm going to blanket guess and attribute it to consumerism and inflation nostr.fmt.wiz.biz

I have three close friends that I've known for 25 years that are still single dudes 🥹 I just hope that they're happy.

I don’t see any reason not to have children, unless, of course, there are health issues, like schizophrenia, and honestly, I don’t consider child-free people to be real humans at all 🤔😎

Most of the time, it’s believing lies.

Lies like:

- The world is ending, there’s no hope, and it’s cruel to bring a child into this.

- The world is ending and it’s the breeders’ fault; having children increases the load on natural resources unsustainably.

- Having children / getting married means your life is over, you can never do things that matter to you again.

- No responsibilities and complete spontaneity is the best way to live.

- You have to have everything all figured out before you have a child.

I think the second biggest factor is trouble finding a suitable partner.

I feel many people have made a thoughtful decision and others are distracted with social media, adult content & the MSM.

I only recently found someone worthy, and she can't. 40 was a long time ago.

44 never married no kids

I'm just not a people person. Would of been nice to do the family thing but introverted not great at making connections I just never found anybody patient enough to give me a shot if I did meet her I didn't know how to ask

kinda feel like I failed myself but over all I have a nice life.

The society that does not value anything, relationships are disposable and even when married people are looking at all the other options. The idea of giving up their childish ways scares all the 20-something’s, then by the time they realize it, they are too late as their eggs have dried up.

Yea that’s what I think it is

My theory for most people in western countries is they have their heads up their asses.

Here is an explanation about why and I imagine you can connect it with fiat:

https://galepooley.substack.com/p/maslows-second-insight-post-gratification

Also...

As a people, we have grown spiritually fat, slothful, and, in many regions, apostate. When a people turn from Christ, they turn from life to death. They no longer value life. So having no children is a consequence of spiritual rebellion. This is broasly true and works itself out more granularly and in unique ways on individual levels.

I also recognize people have legitimate struggles (unable to find a spouse, married later in life, fertility issues, etc.). I'm not intending to hypercritically target every individual.

Pragmatically, we have used technology and law to sever sex from childbearing, sex from marriage, and marriage from covenant (prenups, no fault divorce, etc.).

Monetary debasement is certainly relevant but a secondary factor.

It will be probably more then that.

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Nope. None of that.

I wasted my time in my 20s and 30s,then married a woman who couldn't. And I have come to regret all of that. I still have a little hope to have my own, but, that dies a little every day.

The more people marry, the earlier they marry, and the longer their marriages last, the higher the overall fertility rate will be.

Even infertile married couples raise the society's overall fertility rate, as they tend to adopt or foster-parent, which lowers the risk and cost to the fertile, of having additional children.

I think the leading cause has been the eroding of community from our societies. Air conditioning, TV, and now the internet. The decline in memberships to clubs. The decline in religious attendance. People don’t know their neighbors anymore. For some this causes stress, but for others they just miss the wave of social interaction they would have been swept up in because that was how life was. You were in the bowling league at work, you attended church, and your network was nudging you to settle down and pair off. You probably always knew who your potential mates were anyway, because you knew their names from kindergarten.

Now there are a lot more options and a lot more distractions and less of the kind of social interaction that leads to marriage and children.

It’s a global phenomenon. Look for “demographic winter”.

Which consumerism? Millenials are broke. They can barely afford a cat.

To give those people the benefit of the doubt, I think popular culture constantly lies about the pros and cons of kids. You tend to hear the most from the angriest and least happy people on this topic while happy married folks with kids are just busy living a fulfilling life.

Maybe they think it’s possible to experience continual joy without experiencing pain. They don’t realize that it’s the hard parts of parenting that allow you to experience a love and joy that seems impossible to replicate outside of children once you have them.

Corporate/large firm real estate ownership and ever increasing property tax. Basically, you'll own nothing, work for nothing, never get ahead and be happy.