[purecoolnesss]

This might be a long shot argument but I think a big issue with what is now making societies bad for having large families is individualism.

People are so different and have a hard time agreeing on things they find it hard to get married. Then those who do find it hard to stay married. Those who marry and have kids have a hard time finding families to be friends with. The world is changing at such a rapid pace, If you have no shared values you will just have too large a range to find points of commonality.

Also in large cities the the density is a problem. Abundance of choice creates paralysis. Choice of partners and lifestyle. Creates more ways to cheat on your spouse without being caught. Life in general is more complex. I believe that there is a lag between rural people moving to cities and low birthrates. They may have more kids due to their families being large but their kids will most likely have less kids. Also large cities seem lonely because you become a replaceable part of it.

Sure I making child care more accessible is great and should be done but I don't think that's the one thing holding people back.

[enkid]

If anything, the correlation between low birth rates and Individalism (at least the way academics use it) goes the other way. Asian countries have some of the lowest birth rates of the developed world and are culturally the least individualistic. The United States is the most individualistic country in the world, and maintains one of the highest birthrate in the developing world.

[0dayz]

Asian culture overall is very much in the opposite of individualistic and not only that but they do share "values", just that those values just like their societies expectations, traditions and norms very outdated and not design with necessarily good intentions in mind.

It's not that people in Asia don't want to get family and all that, it just simply coming down to:

1. The economy has not been adjusted with families in mind (we in the west have barely started).

2. Said traditional 'values' and norms were encouraged at a time when democracy nor universal human rights was a thing, which in the past did cost the country some social cohesion but it endured state stability, today however it just puts obstacles for people to try something new and different.

3. Because of 2 people find easier alternatives to family:

Want a patrner with no consequences? Simply order a partner as a service.

Want to be sexually fulfilled? Online porn or sex worker.

Etc.

[up2isomorphism]

This is typical way of looking at social observations without knowing the social context in the first place. For these countries the most dominant reason is very simple: you need to go to big cities to get a job a and you need to have a home to get married and have a child, but the home pricing are so expensive most people can not afford it at least not until very late in their life.

Thinking “hard to agree on the value” is the most laughable reason that I ever heard and just how out of touch that some IT dudes can be. No offense but this is just how far you are from the reality.

[astrange]

Almost all problems in American cities are caused by lack of density, which causes overcrowding. If you have to drive everywhere or you have roommates dating isn’t as fun.

[abyssin]

Low reproduction rates are found in dense cities too.