Children are expensive as hell. A lot of young people are financially struggling, and with inflation and the worsening economy, it's becoming harder and harder to maintain a decent quality of life in addition to taking care of children.
If you can't afford it, you can't afford it. That said, people have been producing dozens of children while being in poverty since the dawn of humanity. The idea that poverty prevents childbirth is the exact opposite of the truth. The people having the most children have the lowest socioeconomic status and live in the poorest countries.
in addition, children are stressful and time consuming. You basically have to put your own life goals on hold to raise them.
This additional stressor can also lead to more marital problems and tension
What exactly is the point of getting married if not to produce children? What advantage is there, especially to a man? To give a woman leverage over half your assets? Seriously, if you're a man in the West and getting married for any reason other than starting a family, I seriously question your wisdom and intelligence. There is no benefit to you or the relationship by doing so.
As far as life goals, what do you have to do that's more important? I don't understand the argument. If you're struggling with last stretch of school or something, fine. Otherwise, I just don't get it. The entire point of the struggle for wealth, status, and a partner is to create the ideal family unit. At least in my opinion. I get other people don't feel that way, but I've heard very, very few coherent arguments for more important activities that people should be doing. We sacrifice what's less important for what's more important. That's why we diet, that's why we're not drug addicts, that's why we spend time in the gym, etc.
Furthermore, the world we live in seems to be rapidly deteriorating, and to me it feels questionable to bring a child into such a world. It might be a doomer perspective, but I think it's a realistic one.
This is so fucking dumb it offends me. The world has never, ever been better. This is the golden age of humanity. Everyone throughout the history of humanity had greater struggles and less access to resources. All of their futures were more bleak, with less agency, less information, and a shorter lifespan. The idea that its questionable to bring a child into this world is only proof that you think this world sucks, and further implicitly suggests it would be better if you were never born at all.
At no point in my life have I been ungrateful to be alive. Even when I was an obese incel living like a hermit. I still had access to food, shelter, entertainment, health care, personal agency, and access to information. This world is amazing, and it would be even more amazing if people took the task of raising good children seriously and acknowledge its something worthy of praise.
IMO, the real reason people don't want children is because they are afraid of any form of responsibility and have yet to mature past childhood. The idea that duties and responsibilities only make your life worse is the mindset of a child. If you don't believe this, take the opposite extreme. Surviving off UBI in gov't housing and food stamps, free health care, spending your money only on entertainment and drugs. A life entirely devoid of duty and responsibility, devoted only to pleasure seeking. Does anyone seriously consider that a positive fulfilling life? What kind of character would that person have? What would they be proud of?
