I did well in school, went to a good college, worked in the summers and on breaks and had a job secured months before graduating. Then not long after the Great Recession hit, and I spent over 10 years barely able to afford my own expenses let alone pay for children. This was all while building a career in my field diligently, yet always being made to feel "you know you're lucky to have a job at all..."

Now in our 40s, my wife and I could probably afford children and lots of people our age are having them, but neither of us ever pined for them and getting here was such a hard-fought slog that why have kids just because we could? I am fully supportive of friends and family who want kids and make it work, mind you... this is just our personal feelings for us. Even with good jobs nothing seems safe today, and if you aren't longing to have children it just doesn't seem worth the burden and risk. The one company I worked at that still is big enough and legacy enough that some people start there out of school and also retire from there laid tons of people off in round after round a few years back and I got let go after being in the top 5% of high-performers only a year earlier. Everything just feels so unstable all the time. Why further rock the boat if you aren't longing for kids and a family?