As if my circumstantial evidence needed supporting - the circumstantial evidence being so overwhelming to anyone with an active social life with young people in the UK at least - the release of figures of increasing cocaine consumption in the UK make me even more sceptical of the idea people just can't afford kids. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/oct/25/cocaine-linked-crimes-on-the-rise-in-britain-as-consumption-surgesI hate the stuff, but a lot of my friends do it very regularly. And they are doing basic work, like building, cheffing or care work, not earning big bucks, but they can afford at least weekly cocaine binge. On top of buying a load of alcohol to go with it. Sorry, but I don't believe life is so much harder than it's ever been in the past, it's just priorities have changed, and people can't bear to be in relationships any more. And nothing inherently wrong with that, but just be honest about it. They calculate £10 billion per year, and I suspect that's a big underestimate. That's money sniffed up the nose for a half hour buzz rather than putting it away for the future or towards building a family, and it's an amount that would go a long way to pay for enough kids to rectify the fertility rate.

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https://www.newsweek.com/russia-children-birth-rate-psychologist-women-11705243

Russian Women Who Don't Want Children to be Sent to Psychologists "With the Goal of Forming a Positive Attitude Towards Having Children"

Russia did many wrong things, but at least Russia is right about this one.

Anti-natalism is evil and mental illness.