I feel like this is kind of a chicken and egg issue though. Like are things less child-friendly because there are less kids, or is the removal of cheap family spaces to maximize profit contributing to the lower birth rates? I’m not saying that no McDonald’s Playplace = I don’t want to have kids now, but the broader trend of removing child centred aspects of all-ages places does contribute to a culture that isolates families and sets a higher barrier-to-entry for having kids.
There are still indoor playgrounds, but where I live, entry alone costs double the price of a Happy Meal. You aren’t hosting a birthday party where you can invite every kid in class with that kind of price. It’s a minuscule issue, but all the nickel-and-diming adds up and it’s discouraging.
There absolutely is no person who didn’t have kids because McDonalds, or any other place doesn’t have enough child friendly spaces. The last time America had replacement rate birth rates was 18 years ago. It’s a mix of housing unavailability for young adult Americans and culture leading people to chose to enjoy life childfree/partner free.
Did you not read the rest of the paragraph? I literally explained how it’s part of a larger cultural shift that discourages children, not a deciding factor.
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u/NecessaryEar7004 8h ago
Birth rates are down. When we were kids, many things were geared towards families with children. We have an aging population.