patrick.net

I think the primary cause of low birth rates is the extremely high cost of a house. Of course other factors, like feminism and easy birth control, also limit the number of children that people have. But the single biggest problem is the lack of space for children where the jobs are.

And that's due largely to an institutional consensus that house prices must keep rising faster than inflation. Banks love high prices because they mean big loans. Boomers love high prices so they can benefit now at the expense of future generations. Governments love to create "solutions" which just make the problem worse, like the mortgage interest deduction and loan guarantees.

This was even a problem in the Roman Empire, as real estate in Rome became so expensive that few people could afford to have children. Augustus created bonuses and political preferences for those that had children, especially three or more children.

Patrick says

Boomers love high prices so they can benefit now at the expense of future generations.

That "benefit" is entirely illusionary. Yeah, a man can strut around because he now lives in a $1million home, but now he pays taxes on a million-dollar home, must pay extra to insure a million-dollar home, and if he sells, must pay a real estate commission on a million dollar home plus pay more for his replacement home. True he can do a "reverse mortgage," but that essentially means he is passing on no house to his kids.

True.

I'd add it's not helped by the concentration of jobs in big cities, instead of factories scattered around the country.

My guess is the number one cause is "Discovering Myself". Low Birth rates are excellently correlated with late first childbirth and vice versa, and the first age of birth got later faster than housing became less affordable. Also pairbonding weakens for both men and women, but especially women, with every new sex partner.

I don't really subscribe to the 'porno is evil' camp since that has been trumpeted from the time the nuns and priests said hair would grow on palms (and now, we discover, many of them are outlandish perverts themselves). Most anti porno types are religious hypocrites, or think that sex should ALWAYS be channeled and motivated into reproduction and family mating (for cultural and social reasons) rather than washed down the drain.

I think it is mostly evil for illiterate and highly suggestive mental defectives who think it represents some kind of reality rather than fantasy. Most of the rape problems around porno come from the third worlders who think it is real rather than a very small handful of bisexual whores and whore masters and exhibitionists acting out, often under the influence of chemical enhancements and for more money than they could make doing anything else.

Porno and whack may save quite a few marriages in which women think the penis is a twenty shot disposable for reproduction then abandonment rather than an ongoing need.

Tortured incels who haven't experienced the downside of entanglements and biologic engrained narcissistic women don't appreciate how free they are otherwise.

Patrick says

I think the primary cause of low birth rates is the extremely high cost of a house. Of course other factors, like feminism and easy birth control, also limit the number of children that people have. But the single biggest problem is the lack of space for children where the jobs are.

And that's due largely to an institutional consensus that house prices must keep rising faster than inflation. Banks love high prices because they mean big loans. Boomers love high prices so they can benefit now at the expense of future generations. Governments love to create "solutions" which just make the problem worse, like the mortgage interest deduction and loan guarantees.

This was even a problem in the Roman Empire, as real estate in Rome became so expensive that few people could afford to have children. Augustus created bonuses and political preferences for those that had children, especially three or more children.

There was a time, even just 60 or 70 years ago that children were seen as a blessing, an asset in a way for parents and grandparents. Today children are seen as liabilities, and the abortionists treat them as such and the world seems to agree as few governments will dare protect the unborn, and few people will offer their time and money to save and raise other people’s children.

Patrick says

I think the primary cause of low birth rates is the extremely high cost of a house.

You're right.
I was shocked when first time went to DFW metropolitan area from CA. I couldn't believe how many children people have. I saw mothers with 3-6 children holding one hand to shopping carts in Costco. Came to conclusion, big and inexpensive houses.
Synonym: When in zoo animals have perfect surrounding, so they do not resist from having babes.

Patrick says

I think the primary cause of low birth rates is the extremely high cost of a house. Of course other factors, like feminism and easy birth control, also limit the number of children that people have. But the single biggest problem is the lack of space for children where the jobs are.

And that's due largely to an institutional consensus that house prices must keep rising faster than inflation. Banks love high prices because they mean big loans. Boomers love high prices so they can benefit now at the expense of future generations. Governments love to create "solutions" which just make the problem worse, like the mortgage interest deduction and loan guarantees.

This was even a problem in the Roman Empire, as real estate in Rome became so expensive that few people could afford to have children. Augustus created bonuses and political preferences for those that had children, especially three or more children.

Hey. Mebbe someone should write a book about this!

Read a survey, money is the top reason.
Fake feminism make things worse by keeping distance from men who can support them otherwise.
It is the one way street that most women do not realize until its too late.

All the fake allegations during #metoo and allegations after 30 years scared men. Unless you are high value men, women will get you for sexual assault for saying hello or making move on date.
I still watch video on how college guy got rape charges, but was saved when they saw video on how girl was all over him in the bar before they went to her apartment.

Well off educated women won't merry down. Since high paying jobs are now with more women, means less men have those jobs so many well off women stay single.

I have always been curious on how rich men decide who to merry? Wrong bitch n you lose half of your shit.

Uneducated , mentally unstable women are hugh red flag. Some are good but hard to find such.

Also child requires lot of $ n patience. After all that work n time, if they turn woke n hate their parent, it would be painful

Banning porn is not possible.

Eric Holder says

Banning porn is not possible.

Cannot even be defined.

KgK one says

All the fake allegations during #metoo and allegations after 30 years scared men. Unless you are high value men, women will get you for sexual assault for saying hello or making move on date.

Yes, this is why Keanu Reeves and many other Hollywood Actors and Musicians are no longer putting their arms around women for Fan Pictures.

Ceffer says

Porno and whack may save quite a few marriages in which women think the penis is a twenty shot disposable for reproduction then abandonment rather than an ongoing need.

Tortured incels who haven't experienced the downside of entanglements and biologic engrained narcissistic women don't appreciate how free they are otherwise.

Two righteous Truisms.

Once a man is about 25, he just needs to get laid, even if he has to go to Colombia or Thailand and pay for it. Too many incels are just dark blue pills thinking their Yankederu or whatever it is in Japanese was 'stolen' from them. There is no Yankederu unless you are Meeks at a Nightclub, and that's only for a time.

"Banning Porn will save Duh Marriages!"

Gloria Albright deserves 90% of the credit.

Blue says

Read a survey, money is the top reason.

And attention.

KgK one says

I have always been curious on how rich men decide who to merry? Wrong bitch n you lose half of your shit.

Rich constantly makes more money.
Staying up longer make much more money than quit in the middle. Even dumb women can figure this out. Most women knew, they would lose if they have to manage money by themselves.

https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/template-saturday-june-28-2025-c

The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Texas’s age-verification law for porn sites — though this flew right under media’s radar — could be one of the most consequential developments in the battle against porn addiction in decades.

First of all, it’s a stellar legal precedent that says regulating porn is not inherently unconstitutional. Although not even close to a ban, it’s a speed-bump on the porn addiction highway. Having to verify your age with ID shatters anonymity, and that moment of indecisive friction — even just 10–15 seconds — has a profound psychological effect. It breaks the dopamine loop.

For adults, age verification adds just enough mild shame and delay to possibly reduce compulsive use. That’s probably the main reason porn producers opposed it so fiercely. They know it will cut into the bottom line.

capitalism is simple, it booms and busts.

we removed busts by printing away. so shit stays in business and asset prices inflate. government that ends up making rich richer, screws the rest.

it’s a bad system right now.

Fortwaye says

capitalism is simple, it booms and busts.

we removed busts by printing away. so shit stays in business and asset prices inflate. government that ends up making rich richer, screws the rest.

it’s a bad system right now.

Yup:

MolotovCocktail says

That's exactly right. Busts are the cleaning cycle that gets rid of the gunk. The oil change that prevents buildup. If busts aren't allowed to run their course, especially in the financial sector, the gunk accumulates until there's a total breakdown.

For too long, the economy was run by a dumb chick driving a Volvo with COEXIST stickers, not even knowing what an oil change was.

Psst!

Over here...

https://patrick.net/comment?comment_id=2186509

MolotovCocktail says

Psst!

Over here...

https://patrick.net/comment?comment_id=2186509

Speaking of busts, they are essential in that experiencing them helps clean out your gunk...

Porn is not the reason for low birth rates and marriage rates, men are.

Pussy blackmail of men used to get them to put a ring on it. Men now know they can get pussy outside of marriage.

It's of course the same with children; would you want to have a child with a girl you see once a week for a rendezvous?

The men most desired by women are those who have the most opportunity to get dates with no commitment; so, they don't commit.

What amazes me is how many people still do it.