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.
Beside capitalism, the secular liberalism is also at fault for declining birth rate across the world.
Liberal political ideology is hostile to marriage, family, religion, and the nation because all involve social bonds that impose duties to others. These duties significantly limit individual liberty. Liberalism does not destroy marriage, family, religion, and the nation immediately, as this would cause too much political resistance. So it slowly dissolves these institutions and their constitutive social bonds in a step by step process. Every step confers a new “freedom” or “human right.”
We have now reached the stage where liberal governments feel that the population will accept complete elimination of social bonds between parents and children. This will, of course, be hailed as a triumph for “children’s human rights.”