Capitalism seems so inevitable to us that we sometimes fail to notice its explanatory power. In this case, it’s staring us right in the face. The incentive structures of capitalism run counter to those of child-rearing — and as market logics pervade deeper into every aspect of our society, the business of having babies makes increasingly little business sense.
Why have them when they’re just meat-fodder for the 1%, eventually? Hell, these days, the inhuman leeches don’t even wait to “fighting age” before turning them into products, statistics, and propaganda. Still. Gotta be a good citizen and feed the coal chute with our young. Ah, what paradise, this Modern Civilization™.