Jim Penman argues declining birth rates like South Korea's aren't about money. Prosperity itself shifts what people value, making family less of a priority. Cash incentives won't fix it because the problem is cultural, not financial.
Unless you can change the character, you can't solve the problem. The country which is very advanced like South Korea, and they're obviously spending a fortune on this sort of stuff, why haven't they come to look at stuff that you're doing?
Because they're totally misunderstanding what's going on. You ask people why they don't have children and they always focus on money. And people believe them. They say, yes, that's why it is, therefore give them more money. But it doesn't work because it's not money, it's priorities. And it's not a fundamental thing. It's not something that you can change from propaganda. It's a basic change in character that's driven by a whole lot of changes in society, including prosperity in itself, is causing a change in character. They're causing people to prioritize family and children less.
Rising mental illness and falling birth rates have the same cause, it is this.....
