Europe

Governments:

If you want people to start having kids again, put wealth caps in place world wide. For as long as there are billionaires and millionaires that hoard all the wealth and power, leaving only scraps for us to survive, we won't be having kids.

Wealth caps will redistribute the wealth back to governments, who can then use it for free healthcare, free education l, even universal basic income

Set that damned cap to 1 million dollars or something. High enough to make sure everyone can live very nicely but low enough to stop hoarding of wealth. Anything over 1 million? To taxes!

Once wealth is nicely spread around again, you'll see, people will start having kids again because now they have a life, resources, and joy in life.

"I wasn't going to have kids but I changed my mind when I got a letter from the government telling me it was time" --nobody

I will start thinking of having kids, when goverments start taking global warming seriously and create a system, where I get to spend time with my kid without ruining myself economically.

All we did was create an economy where no one has the time or money for kids... why is no one having kids!?

Isn't false paternity a big issue there? Their ban on paternity tests isn't going to make men more comfortable starting families.

I have many friends around this age or older.

Only people who got money for flat / house from family, have kids. Others waiting as they will be financially stable.

People want to have kids, but they often dont afford them..

For anyone else wondering why 29-year-olds specifically:

The letter is being sent to 29-year-olds because women are able to have their eggs frozen at that age without a medical certificate. Women will also be reminded that social security in France covers the cost of freezing eggs for women between 29 and 37.

The article also does mention the arguments that short maternity leave, environmental concerns, and negative outlooks on the future in the country deters people from having children.

So not quite as harsh as the “hurry up and reproduce!” message the title implies.

Why would I want to bring another person into this world hellscape?

Here's an idea: make raising children affordable.

When I was growing up in the 80s they said global warning would affect our children's children so we should start doing something about it.

Guess what, it's happening to us, already. Why would I bring more people into it. At least I'll be dead before it gets really really bad but statistically I'll see things like the last Coral reefs dying and the amazon rain forest disappearing.

I hope everyone who gets one sends a letter back telling the government to get on with taxing the damn billionaires.

A drop in birth rates is generally seen as a sign of increasing prosperity in a population... Up to a point. After a certain line it's a sign of decreasing financial confidence and insecurity.

Reply with an invoice for €1 million.

Its always "have more children" and never "here is 1 million dollars to have a child comfortably"

While France isn't as bad as the US

• Make affordable "Family friendly" housing. It's hard to live alone in Paris, let alone as a family of four

• Spend money in education so we have decent public school, and can deal with bullies

• The whole global warming and geopolitical tension make getting kids scary, the 2020's looks like the bad scenario young millennials were talking about in the 00's.

we're this close tho have state mandated wives

“Procreation is creating one more human who is going to pollute and consume. It is a secondary reason for me, but I have friends who are clear they do not want children because of that,” he added.