"I love my unborn children far too much to subject them to the dumpsterfire of a planet we've built for them."

I can't help but feel guilty every time a friend or coworker or someone makes the announcement that they're having a kid. We owe that kid better, but shit's gonna be WAY worse by the time they're old enough to despise us for it.

Much love to any parents reading this. You've got a hard job.

Where's the part about impending fascism, 72+hours work weeks, and the housing crisis?

Because I don't like them and they would ruin my lifestyle

That's a valid reason and all but I'd also add that life is just very expensive, both parents need to work to make ends meet and lack of time available for child care. If you add housework imbalance you get South Korea level fertility.

There is a pent up demand for kids when looking at "How many do you want?" vs "How many do you have?" but having them is irrational for most people. It takes a long while for parents to become financially secure, usually comes at 30+ years and then you ask one of the parents to take a massive career hit and add 3h of work per day to the schedule.

If the gov really wants babies we really need to reduce work hours to 30/week for both parents.

the cost of living (especially housing fuck), the systematic erosion of education, and the lack of any hope for their future are the big things stopping me. i barely have any hope for my own future and ive got over 30 years of a head start over any potential kids. the worst part is i really want kids and to give them a good life i just dont think i can in this world.

The best decision anyone can make for their own carbon footprint is just not bringing more people into the world. Virtually no living person is carbon neutral or particularly close

You've thrown the worst fear

That can ever be hurled

Fear to bring children

Into the world

For threatening my baby

Unborn and unnamed

You ain't worth the blood That runs in your veins

• Bob Dylan - Masters of War

Our total world population has increased BILLIONS in about 4 or 5 decades.

Aside from the issue of elder care/medical infrastructure: why are people concerned at a decline back to the levels in the 1970s/80s?

That

And this

While they were growing up, summer often meant "too hot for clothes, but the water's cool!" ... now its too hot for fuckin, the water's often warm like piss, and that's not just in summer.

Getting snowed-in without heat so you gotta huddle-up(naked? NAKED!) for warmth is out too, and sadly not because the bills are paid or the grid's more reliable. Good job Dad!!

Oh boy what a loaded topic, but to sum it up in terms of 'future' reasons:

Climate Change Carbon footprint minimization/we do not want kids in an unstable environment especially when the world is already on fire and on track to spiral out of control

Economic Inequality

• Cost of living - more and more people are unable to make ends meet even when both parents go to work.
• Housing costs - desirable housing locations, often close to workplaces, costs have been driven up or hoarded by corporations and often the older generation. Working from home is the antithesis to another asset class - the office towers - why you'll see desperate governments to mandate back-to-office legislation. To hell with carbon emissions from our commutes especially car-centric societies.
• Lack of opportunity - governments around the world have made barriers to entry to simply get up and move (think passports, work permits etc) OR require local recognized qualifications to a new job with large amounts of red tape or capital upfront alongside investment in time. In some places it's healthcare.
• Cost of having a child is too high with all of these combined from a capital point of view

Looming threat of war - for some reason, the adults still haven't managed to obtain world peace, usually because money/greed, eye-for-an-eye, and millions duped by religion, tribalism to support this. Meanwhile, the world has begun to rearm itself as US hegemony pulls back. Do you want your child to live in a war torn world?

As for the 'current' reasons:

If you're a millennial, you're probably bitter. Everything that you've been told, promised, or dreamed of has been systemically torn to shreds. You witnessed the rise of the information age, only to have it weaponized before your very eyes by big tech and influencers as it invades your privacy. The financial system have gone through not just one 'once-in-a-lifetime crisis' but several, but only to see it become rigged, so now it overwhelmingly only benefits a certain group of rich assholes. You've seen the climate change before your very eyes in the last 3-4 decades while the 'adults' still close their eyes and ears for the sake of short-term gains. Oh and add in a few potential and real pandemics - SARS, Ebola, Avian bird flu, mad cow disease, COVID-19, etc. If only we collectively pooled resources we could eliminate them - but big pharma and Wall St. needs their profits. You also learned from the pandemic that a good number of people around you are complete morons - anti-vax, anti-maskers. Then we look at the ecosystem of life - bugs are dying out, oceans are being over fished - we're on track for an environmental collapse unless we dial back our own consumption. But the biggest one of all is probably your view on government - how it's dysfunctional and corrupted by the rich and the corporations. All the problems we've had could have been 'fixed' if they were truly responsible adults. They could have been truly great people - but alas, you've seen human beings fill those seats only to discover that they're weak willed, spineless, scheming, or straight up corrupt. They've practically mortgaged our futures and straddled our collective wealth with enormous debt. Geez, I wonder why people don't want kids - you'd probably want to see the entire system collapse than to have kids.

If you're younger than a millennial, you're probably thinking we're all fucked, so I got no fucks left to give.

The hollowing out of education and public services - there is a sinister global cabal of filthy rich assholes that have their own agenda of trying to play 'world-emperor'. Governments are doing an extremely poor job right now in rectifying this.

Why government needs you to have kids:

• Our almost ponzi scheme like economic system and pension funds are going to be in the shitter if we don't have more economic output 2 generations down the line.*

So yeah, not having kids, is straight up, a fuck you and fuck what they've done.

*This is why I believe there's only one route out if they can't fill the gap with more babies or with the band-aid fix of mass immigration - technological advances (like AI) in hopes to cover the loss of productivity from a shrinking population count.

This is definitely not my experience. Pretty much everybody I talk to and everybody I know says don't have kids.

Poor. Don't have good genetics. Unfavorable environment. Education system is tanking. Robots are destroying job markets.

Don’t forget endless war. Housing and food costs. Day care costs. Medical costs. Basically just go outside and it makes sense.

** laughs in wildfire air quality alert air from NY **

Weird reasons. For most it's cost of living first, maybe quality of live and future outlook as secondary reason.

Even without all of this, you really have to be a narcissist to think that the world can't function without your children.

You forgot "no one will fuck me."