[ChuckNorris89]

Because no western country has tried lowering housing costs yet. And I mean actually lowering housing costs, not just talking about it on TV, posturing, political promises or making stupid mistakes like rent-freezes and such.

But blaming the poor young people priced out of their own country for not breeding, and just bringing third world immigrants with no living standards, is much easier than improving the living standards of your own population.

As long as you treat housing like a speculative investment that is squeezing the young to get a much larger return for the older owners, instead of treating it like shelter and a basic necessity for any family, why are you surprised young people don't breed anymore? The precarious job market isn't doing them any favors either.

Mass migration that puts more pressure on affordable housing and on the low-end jobs market is not the solution here. That breeds long term instability, segregation, distrust, and leads to political extremism. The solution is fixing housing, which nobody actually wants to do, because "housing prices must go UP", and the ruling asset owning class is making a killing from it.

[ngc248]

Its not just lowering housing costs. Raising a child does not just include housing cost, it also includes a ton of other costs, and since families have become nuclear and both parents work, it is hard to birth more children since cost/time that you need to spend on child rearing will be more. What is the solution to this? No idea

[zo1]

Yeah, take it further. Allow single-income households to prosper and be able to afford homes & children. Watch one-parent from each household start flocking to stay at home, maintaining a well-functioning household that's not dependent on external "services", and then having a bunch more than 1.5 kids is a possibility and probably a very appealing thought versus what it is now.

[ChuckNorris89]

You mean childcare costs?

[niemandhier]

My observation is, that it is about child care.

Guarantee all parents affordable child care close to their work or home and many people settling for one kid will have two.

[dagw]

Guarantee all parents affordable child care close to their work or home

Sweden has that (and generous parental leave policies) and still has both low and declining birth rates.

[ChuckNorris89]

Sweden also has very expensive CoL/housing.