The negatives are all constructed by the financial system, though. People need two incomes because everyone else has two incomes (two incomes are also usually more tax efficient than one big one). Why aren't people financially stable in their 20s? They're literally in the prime of their lives. Much less likely to fall ill etc. Essentially everyone has to delay their lives until later because everyone else is delaying their lives until later. There are no benefits I'm aware of with having children later (outside of the financial stuff) but there are many, many downsides.
> The negatives are all constructed by the financial system
There are two answers to that.
(a) So what? Financial realities are still realities, and impose yet other realities on those who live them. And those realities are not going to change in any conceivable short or medium time frame.
(b) It's not all financial. Time, energy, maturity are all factors too. I happen to believe the vast majority of 20-somethings are not mature enough to be responsible for another person (barely enough so to be responsible for themselves) but I don't turn that into an edict for others. When I had to help my daughter with something recently it was that decade-plus of extra life experience - not money - that turned out to be most helpful. The list goes on.
If you want to claim that the 20s are the ideal time for anyone to have children, you have to prove it. It's not sufficient to say that "you don't see it" when that could just be a reflection of your own limited circumstances or perspective. The reality is that having kids later works very well for some people. Accept that they're not you.
I’ll concur to a point on financials - but older generation got married at 19 and had stable families, so it’s not truly about responsibilities.
I think the idea of career first is a bigger factor and also we now live in a false “construct” of true love and everyone is waiting on or looking ideal mate.
> older generation got married at 19 and had stable families
Have you looked at divorce rates lately? Rates of child abuse, addiction, suicide? Seems to me that many of those families are not so stable or - even more importantly - functional. Also, if you look at how many of those formerly young parents in my generation and before have conducted themselves since their nests emptied, the picture's even grimmer. I suspect that they - and the rest of us - would be better off if they'd had children to help guide them into modernity in their later working years. Winding down any connection to the younger generation - and through them to changes in technology or society - at barely 40 doesn't seem to lead to a healthy 60, 70, or 80. The appeal to tradition fails.
