The more prosperous countries have lower birth rates. I've heard that because of the rising financial, educational and social equality of women are causing a decline in births and marriages in Germany. Many are educated with good jobs but still want children. But like a PP mentioned, it seems they do not want or need a partner tied by marriage. So lots of shacking up without the ceremony. Not sure about Greece though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The economy sucks. Jobs are difficult to come by. Finding housing is close to impossible. And b/c they can rely on family (b/c family means something to Europeans - unlike it does here), there's no pressure to move out.

I have family who's proof of what I've written above.

You sound like you're 30 and live at home.

no - I'm just not a WASP like you.

So how many second cousins are living with you sans jobs?

Or are you posting on another thread about how you hate it that your mother-in-law (that you never liked) has Alzheimer's and is living with you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The economy sucks. Jobs are difficult to come by. Finding housing is close to impossible. And b/c they can rely on family (b/c family means something to Europeans - unlike it does here), there's no pressure to move out.

I have family who's proof of what I've written above.

You sound like you're 30 and live at home.

no - I'm just not a WASP like you.

ah, I think it is because of the selfishness of this ME ME ME generation. Sad. They will regret it, and they are destroying their societies as a result.

In many parts of Europe, it is just super expensive. Everything costs more. Perhaps people just realize they cannot afford kids.

1. less religious/more secular as a group. ie, don't believe that God wants them to be fertile and multiply

2. better access to birth control starting at age 12 or so, for the northern countries

2.5 lower marriage rates

3. they're about 150 years ahead of us (see #1). Believe they have actual choices, all which are valid, without pressure. The ~4th generation+ Americans are a lot like Western Europeans in this respect. The birthrate for native-born, EDUCATED women is actually quite low (compared to the overall US birthrate, which includes all the poorly educated and uneducated Hispanic immigrants who procreate a lot. )

Anonymous wrote:The economy sucks. Jobs are difficult to come by. Finding housing is close to impossible. And b/c they can rely on family (b/c family means something to Europeans - unlike it does here), there's no pressure to move out.

I have family who's proof of what I've written above.

You sound like you're 30 and live at home.

Anonymous wrote:Obviously they do not value family.

America is the place where child deaths are higher than in Europe

They are smart! They know if they have children they are forever glued in some way to their ungrateful husbands and psycho in-laws. (Yeah, I'm the poster who started the advice to young ladies thread.) Serioulsy though, this could be part of it. They have seen that family life is not all rainbows.

Anonymous wrote:The economy sucks. Jobs are difficult to come by. Finding housing is close to impossible. And b/c they can rely on family (b/c family means something to Europeans - unlike it does here), there's no pressure to move out.

I have family who's proof of what I've written above.

The very fact that they must rely on family may be why family means something. Better jobs, more housing options, and your family-centric countries are likely to become less so.

I've heard that in Germany it's because the expectation is really still that mom will SAH and everything (school/shop hours) in many places is still very much geared around that expectation. Now a days not as many people want to do that for however many years they are having kids.

Not at an all time low
It was low 3 decades, so now there just are less childbearing adults

The economy sucks. Jobs are difficult to come by. Finding housing is close to impossible. And b/c they can rely on family (b/c family means something to Europeans - unlike it does here), there's no pressure to move out.

I have family who's proof of what I've written above.

Obviously they do not value family.

The birth rates in countries like Greece and Germany are at an all-time low. Just amazing.