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I don't think you've really engaged with my point at all.
No I don't. I plan to have lots of kids, and I'm well-prepared to do so. There is nothing stopping me from having at least 5 children, we just haven't started yet, and plan to within a year or two. I mentioned my age already so you should know that this plan is perfectly reasonable, as opposed to the single mid-30's women who still plan on starting big families.
Yes, I would, but due to the factors I mentioned I'm not in the same position. I don't actually think money has much to do with whether you can have children, but I do think the sexual marketplace does, and that was my point throughout my comment.
I agree, but I think the same factors which led to picky women have also led to the fertility problem, which was what I was (perhaps unclearly) trying to get at. Thus, men complaining about how picky and unfertile women are are perhaps missing the point, but they're gesturing towards an obvious problem in our current society in a clear way. When your grandpa had kids in the 50's-60's The divorce rate was about half of what it is now and I suspect the "true" divorce rate was even lower comparatively, because nowadays many people just don't get married in the first place. You don't think this has anything at all to do with women being more picky?
There are plenty of other important factors too. People in the 50's (or even earlier) very rarely went to college, and often didn't even finish high school. That's like 4-8 extra years they had as a head start on starting a family. Jobs didn't require diplomas to nearly the same degree that they do now, so they essentially were in similar financial positions 4-8 years earlier than their equivalents nowadays.
I'll be more clear about my central point. Women have MUCH more power in nearly all heterosexual relationships, and this power disparity has been increasing over the years. When people say women are too picky on dating apps, this is what they are gesturing towards. My situation is similar--if I were in your grandpa's shoes I would start having kids immediately because I would be less worried about the strength of my relationship with my wife. This has nothing to do with culture (at least, childrearing culture), it just has to do with the different circumstances in which we find themselves.
"We just haven't started yet". And that's it, ladies and gentlemen, if we're talking about fertility levels. "Lord, make me fertile - but not just yet" to adapt the saying.
Right, if you're young enough "we haven't started yet" is perfectly reasonable. The reason it has taken on a negative connotation is because of all the single mid-30's people still saying it, which I already mentioned.
I'm nearing the older end of what I'd consider reasonable, but I think you're silly if you think starting at 25 is too late.
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