this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2023
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[–] Pirky@lemmy.world 131 points 2 years ago (45 children)

"The challenge is that no single cause can be identified for the declining rate." Sure you can: capitalism.

[–] exohuman@programming.dev 81 points 2 years ago (1 children)

So true. Over and over again in the article it says that people can’t afford children and universities. It keeps saying the cost of living is up and then says there is no single cause people won’t have children.

[–] Mikelius@lemmy.world 74 points 2 years ago (1 children)

And you can’t discount Japan’s absurdly toxic work culture.

[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 55 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Exacerbated by……. Capitalism.

[–] Mikelius@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years ago

Oh for sure, just saying there is another extra layer in the shit cake.

[–] ours@lemmy.film 8 points 2 years ago

Feudal-inspired work culture, ultra-liberal capitalism, and xenophobia what a combo!

[–] Sir_Premiumhengst@lemmy.world 42 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I agree with capitalism being a main cause. Additionally, many people also just don't want to raise a child. They don't want the added responsibilities and lack of freedom. Even people for whom capitalism works would rather enjoy their own life.

[–] kofe@lemmy.ml 15 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I just don't want to go through pregnancy, personally. Love kids but not enough to risk my life and permanent bodily changes. The being poor part is secondary

[–] WhollyGuacamole@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago

My mother had to have pelvic floor surgery after having three kids. Prior to that, she had to get her gallbladder removed shortly after my brother's birth. Pregnancy is extremely unappealing to me, and I don't think the long term effects of it are talked about enough.

[–] bobman@unilem.org 6 points 2 years ago

Even people for whom capitalism works would rather enjoy their own life.

Is that why the ruling class has no problem having kids, usually with a bunch of different people?

I guess you still have a point. They typically have these children and then go off to live their rich lives instead of being a parent.

[–] virr@lemmy.world 15 points 2 years ago

Was going to say climate change, but really the underlying cause is capitalism there too...

[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] Anticorp@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 years ago

Is this a Corky reference?

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[–] tabular@lemmy.world 50 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Sounds great to me. Wish every country had a declining birth rate.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Declining birthrates can be good when controlled and slow but like this in Japan it's not a good thing and it will cause many issues and suffering.

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe 4 points 2 years ago (6 children)

Get real, the only reason it's a problem for them is they're too racist to encourage immigration from more populous nations.

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[–] bouh@lemmy.world 37 points 2 years ago (5 children)

To add onto the capitalist blame: people are conditioned to think in a capitalist way, and raising a child is a definite losing venture, hence people won't invest in that shit.

[–] Gsus4@feddit.nl 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

If you can hardly feed and house yourself ... you can't afford to woo a wife or raise a kid :/ but that won't stop some people trying to half-ass it I guess

[–] veganpizza69@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Quite the opposite, capitalists want more human resources, human capital. There's an entire ideology, at least centuries old, about this. You can most easily read about it as: pronatalism.

People aren't conditioned to think in a capitalist way, they're conditioned to think about their kids future not being worse than their present, since having kids can throw you into poverty.

[–] bouh@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Some wrong language I guess. You talk capitalists as those who possess stuff, and you're right in this way. I talk about the liberal ideology of capitalism that produces consumer citizens and the glorification of individualism. The people a capitalist society produce.

[–] veganpizza69@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

Well, it takes a village to raise a child. The capitalist culture also brings this idea of "nuclear family" which generates this impossible situation for the "nuclear family" to afford kids. Of course, the other aspect of this is the eugenicist/fascist aspect of: only the rich can afford kids, so them it makes sense, this nuclear family. It's not a problem to have a nuclear family if you're rich, and you can just replace the village by paying for extra caretakers... another type of commodified relationship. The rich can afford to pay a woman to babysit for years, while that woman can't afford to have a family or to see her kids (often because her family is in a different country). Family for me, but not for thee.

[–] Persen@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Tho, you make it once and have it for the rest of your life.

[–] Vrijgezelopkamers@lemmy.world 15 points 2 years ago

The purchase price is negligible, but the total cost of ownership is staggering.

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[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 18 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Sigh. All right. Guess I'll have to do my part. I can impregnate them. /s

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe 14 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I loved when the news came out that Japan didn't have enough male porn stars and you could hear a bunch of chubby white guys considering a career change.

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 2 years ago

What's this news?

[–] ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world 10 points 2 years ago

It's more surprising that 2/3 of Japanese women have children before they turn 19!

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