I was hanging with my buddy. Good guy, smart, and caring guy but has no plans to start a family or have kids. I asked him why b/c he'd make a great a family guy and express interest before. He said simply said as much as he would like to, he with the way things are now in the U.S he feels like he can't afford to. He works hard and gets paid in the upper 5 figures but after Uncle Sam takes his cut and he pays for his rising cost of living expenses most of which is outta his hands, he has very little left over at the end of month and what he has he puts away for a rainy day which depending on the issue won't cover the problem. As he said he is 2 or 3 major problems from being broke. He doesn't want to subject anyone to that kind of stress and instability while being not being the partner and dad he'd like to be.
His parents who grew up in the 70's-80'S believe he is just not “trying hard enough and is selfish” etc, you know all the classics. Also, they want grandkids to help them as they get older but that is a whole other issue. The issue is many people mostly older people are refusing to understand that many young people aren't having families because you care afford to because you can barely care for yourself let alone someone else. Why is that?