Korea Shatters Its Own Record for World’s Lowest Fertility Rate

[Rupert]

I wasn't able to have children, so ....

My heart goes out to you.

We are blessed with one daughter, a constant heartache... after IVF.  Sue wanted loads of children..

[ergophobe]

Sorry to hear that Heather!

I think the "drudgery" conversation is mostly a media trope honestly, not something I hear parents or non-parents actually do very often in real life. Sort of like a generation or two (or three) back where wives were described as "the old ball and chain" or "the old battle axe." The number of men who felt that way about their wives was probably close to zero, but to judge from sitcoms and movies of the time, you would think it was common.

[littleman]

That's a good point and you might be right.  Probably most of the declines in birth rates are due to economics.

[ergophobe]

Historically, fertility is highly influenced by the economy. There is good data on this for late medieval Tuscany based on tax and census records.

One of the big economic shifts has been the participation of women in the workforce. That may be the biggest change globally. In the US, the insane cost of housing in large cities is probably a big factor. You could speak to this better, but I always hear of downtown SF as essentially a child-free zone.

Personally, I'd be hard-pressed to say why exactly I did not want kids, but frankly it was a decision I came to during my years of deep depression in my 20s. I decided I didn't want to be responsible for that. I am not saying that is a good reason (if true, why not adopt?)  or that my mind was working well at that time (definitely was not), but that was the root of it. Then as I felt better in my 30s, I just never changed my mind. I think if I had been happy in my 20s, I would have felt very differently about having kids. I've actually always liked kids and gotten on with them well.