[sseagull]

Spot on, but this in particular

> people tend to not live near parents anymore so they lose free childcare

For some reason I don't see this mentioned as often, but I've always felt it a significant root cause (among many of course).

Childcare is really expensive, but it used to be "free". I grew up with grandparents/aunts/uncles/older cousins available to baby sit me. But now very much of my cohort have moved away from our home region for better jobs. My nearest family is a 4 hour drive away.

Combine this with a strong individuality streak (less reliance on neighbors and community) and you have to turn to very expensive childcare.

Raising children without that support is very daunting, at least to me.

[steveBK123]

It fits with everything in the rich world, especially the west, especially the US which is - replacing family/community/social/etc systems with pay-as-you-go solutions. And this is one of many areas it falls apart.

[spacemadness]

One of the major unspoken costs of having hotbeds of industry and the opportunity cost associated for not being in those hotbeds. Hotbeds are great for the entrepreneur but it still costs a hell of a lot in other ways that would otherwise enrich society.