Either? Dozen children is hyperbole, but 3 to 5 children, as well as an extended family for support. But it takes a lot of sacrifice to achieve, which no younger person I know of is interested in.
One can also plan to off themselves once they're unable to support themselves. I say plan, because I'm sure saying it is easy, but when it comes time to do it, it'll be much more difficult.
3 - 5 kids is not a solution to the problem, it's a pyramid scheme of ever expanding population that stops as soon as population growth stops, an I don't know if you noticed, but we've hit 8 billion, so it's no longer an option.
Also, what is this sacrifice you are talking about? Just another one "kids these days!"
I’m also in the younger generation, but we are choosing to live in more expensive cities and being further educated and prioritizing high incomes as opposed to starting to have kids at a younger age. There is no value judgment here about the choices, but I would consider it a sacrifice to give up partying in one’s 20s to raise a family capable and willing to support you. Of course, it may also not be a good choice since earning power of those who have children in younger 20s might be greatly reduced.
One of the big reasons cities are more expensive is that a lot of Americans use their house as a savings plan, causing society to prioritize things that keep property values stable or increasing.
We can't simultaneously have ever-rising property values and affordable housing. Without affordable housing, many people are choosing to defer having kids (including, as you say, by pursuing more education to get higher-paying jobs), which reduces the worker/retiree ratio. That in turn makes it more expensive to be old, requiring more yet more savings.
To me a lot of this problem like a pathological response to the US's lack of good long-term pension coverage. Our every-man-for-himself, devil-take-the-hindmost approach causes a lot of scarcity thinking, which makes it hard to adopt sensible systemic solutions.
Maybe one reason. But I think the biggest reason is that technology and globalization have caused more and more jobs to move to big cities, and in particular to cities on the east and west coast (in the US), which results in housing scarcity due to demand exceeding supply. This is the case in the city where I live. Due to a booming tech industry, the influx of people moving to the city exceeds the amount of housing that can be built (along with other infrastructure, like roads).
And it isn't a problem in all cities either. From what I hear costs are going down in many industrial cities as residents leave to seek more abundent jobs elsewhere.
Cities in the US are more expensive due to housing policy, as you mention, but also because cities as the engine of American business and growth are subsidizing the rest of the nation. A significant chunk of every city dweller's money ends up in taxes that are transferred to far less efficient and less wealthy non city areas.
Take away the wealth transfer from cities to non urban areas and the only people living in rural areas will be the wealthiest and end of the world preppers.
People are prioritizing expensive cities because that's how you get higher income. You get higher income by being educated. And you need higher income to raise kids because raising kids is incredibly expensive especially if you don't have a higher income job's provided healthcare.
This has absolutely nothing to do with partying. And if you're choosing to have kids for the purpose of having a support network when you're older, that's kind of a fucked up rationalization for it. At that point, society has failed you somewhere along the way. Even ancient societies had other methods of supporting the elderly in the community or through some form of welfare.
Who would take care of someone else like they would their own parents? And you can do things for multiple purposes. Children and family provide a valuable support network to get you through life, but it can also be because you want to raise kids to be good stewards of society and all that Jazz.
It’s impossible for 99% of people to save enough money to buy the kind of care your children would provide you. Not even considering how well someone would tend to wiping your butt, but the emotional benefits of being surrounded by family are probably not able to be replicated.
1. Had the government or community take care of the elderly.
2. Criminalize poverty and force them to work or be imprisoned.
3. Let them die.
Even the Roman Empire had pension for people that served in the military. You can take your pick as to which system you'd prefer, but pensions have quite literally existed for thousands of years in some form.
And what happens when the economy goes bust when you're running down your investment in your retirement years? Or if you can't invest or save due to the many rent-seeking behaviors we see nowadays? Do we just let them die because they had the misfortune of bad timing or being take advantage of?
For 5: Even in those non-American societies they have recognized that leaning 100% on your family is generally a bad thing for working professionals. Or at least those companies are not willing to pay for their employees to take care of their elderly or disabled family members.
A pension is a personal savings. Back when pensions were actually offered by companies, you'd often choose your company by not just your paycheck, but by the retirement plan they offer. You would literally turn down jobs that might pay better but offer no pension. If that's not saving your money, then what is?
Because pensions aren’t portable. They lock you into a particular organization. 401k, stocks, savings accounts, etc, do not. Pensions (in the private sector, public ones are another ball of wax entirely) do not protect you against inflation. You have no control over what they’re invested in (which in some cases, is the pension manager’s retirement). There are much better options available.
I think the USA going to soon learn the ugly truth about your item 4: that massive swaths of the population have not saved adequately. I mean, I make pretty ok money and save the max every year, but there is no way on earth my pathetic 401k is going to last even 10 years after I stop working. Now consider the average American who has fuck-all in their retirement account. Despite their disadvantages, pensions at least let people who didn’t save retire in (perhaps difficult) dignity. When my account says $1 and I have no other living breadwinners in my family, my only remaining retirement option is to spend that last dollar on a bullet.
I'm pretty sure that and our 2-3x inflation annual increases in our already-insanely-high healthcare spending are going to lead to civil unrest in the next 30-40 years. On the shorter side for the healthcare spending (no way we can keep up the current rate of increases even 20 more years without an actual, honest-to-god revolt) and somewhat later for the failing retirement system (such as it is). I'm a lot more worried about those than climate change, which we are for-sure not going to address anyway if those aren't dealt with.
Not arguing about the US being about to learn this the hard way. But when we get to that point, neither a pension nor a 401k will be able to save anyone.