Real answer: instability in the workplace, and financial insecurity.
Jobs no longer want stable reliable people that want to settle in and make a life. They want temps, cheap, mid term gig workers that they can call up when needed and drop on a quarterly basis.
Like lean manufacturing applied to the workforce.
I wonder if it relates to another question: do young men want to have families, i.e., be fathers?
But they’re having less sex.
This plays out a lot in academia. “Two body problem” is a big problem. A lot of couples who meet in grad school don’t make it long term because it is REALLY REALLY hard to find jobs together, or even in the same city.
Young women really don’t want to either, perhaps more so than young men
Or!
Too busy getting laid to fill out a sex survey!
honestly, I wouldn’t have even the foggiest notion of the sex habits of 20-somethings.
I would hope so.
You mean they put their phones down?
This retarded country is by all means, not structured for getting married or raising a family.
It can be done though.
Preaching family values is not the same as valuing families.
Its all about that hustle 
and flow 
.
Families, health, well being, etc. All come in far behind.
It may be reproductive suppression. They consciously or unconsciously reduce their reproductive potential or withdraw from the mating market. It is seen in many species.
I agree, but what specific reasons do you believe this?
I have my own beliefs but id like to hear yours.
In America, we value our values for the sake of those values. We value freedom, capitalism, democracy, civil rights, etc. But there is a disconnect between American values and Americans. We care more about the values and ideals, than we do the individual people who those values exist to serve. Citizens are not people but consumers, workers and voters. Trump says make America great again, not make Americans great.
You can see how someone might be averse to starting a family when they know they will inevitably find themselves having to choose between family and work. Having a family brings with it some stress, that’s life, but if you know the time you get outside of work will be limited, why spend it dealing with a family? Many of these younger people feel this way probably because they experienced it with their parents growing up. They saw their parents worry about money, saw their misery, and know that a major cause of the misery was worrying about how financial issues would affect the kids. The kids, in effect, were the reason for the stress.
Idk how generalisable this is, but this is definitely a big factor for me
So is this
I think this is especially the case if someone has time consuming hobbies outside of work, or perhaps even enjoys their work
This doesn’t apply to men, but for women, pregnancy is NOT health neutral. It’s a serious medical condition and comes with risk of serious, long term complications.
I think the transparency about these risks also influences choice, and rightfully so.
In the past, the struggles of pregnancy were largely kept quiet and complications like post partum depression, autoimmunity etc were not discussed. I think a lot of women went into pregnancy with some level of delusion
Actually, having a child is not health neutral to men either, at least in modern times. Men lose sleep too if they are good fathers
I understand what you’re saying, but I also think attitudes about families have changed. It’s no longer considered our duty to have children and provide functional members of society. We have kids because we think it’s “fun” and would be “cool.” We consider it an option to be weighed against trivial matters like time spent pursuing hobbies and hanging out with friends. Is that how things should be?
This is true but shouldn’t be an issue. A few months of short sleep is a small price to pay.
I was trying to think of how to articulate this, and you did it pretty well. I’d add that the idea of a family being to make kids happy, or satisfy their wants or whatever, is another HUGE problem. The idea that children are the centerpiece of a family is a HUGE problem.
Of course, I believe that the government encourages such because it further weakens society outside of government. Weakening the position of men in families put women in charge; women like to satisfy everyone, especially their children. So the lunatics(children) are running the asylum(society). The solution? Government.
It’s not trivial if it gives someone a purpose.
You could add to this by asking, if someone grew up under these conditions, like many young adults have, why would they want to give up that spotlight to focus it on someone else, even their own child?
And if they do have kids, it’s not about the kids, as mentioned above, they are essentially props for their YouTube channels.