Quote from: o_e_l_e_o on December 17, 2018, 04:44:07 PM

Quote from: gentlemand on December 17, 2018, 02:08:08 AM

By the time I'm proper old I'll be amazed if there's a state pension of any sort.

We haven't even hit peak baby boomer yet. The number of adults who are retired and claiming pension is increasing. Look at this chart for the US, for example:

https://www.indexmundi.com/graphs/population-pyramids/united-states-population-pyramid-2016.gif

Look particularly at the 50-64 age ranges which are relatively larger, and the 5-19 age ranges which are relatively smaller. In the next 10-15 years, all those baby boomers will be hitting pensionable age, whilst a lower number of Generation Zs will be taking their place. On top of that Millennials are having less children, and so the trend is only going to get worse, with a growing elderly population and a shrinking workforce.

I can relate to this. I was born in the mid 80s and it was a baby boom time in the EU. All friends of my parents had 2 children, most of my friends had siblings. On top of that all of the older people that I knew had jobs provided by the state, in healthcare, education, public transport, and paid their share of pension funds.
Now, when I think of my friends, none of them have children. To be honest, out of 6 male friends that I have, only 1 has 2 children and it also happens that the same guy has a state job. The other 5 don't have children, with 3 out 5 not even being married. Most of us, and that includes me, don't have stable jobs and we earn (or used to earn) a lot of money "under the table", which means no pensions. Also, most of us were studying and started to look for our first jobs when we were 25-26, while our parents were already working when they were 19.
The pension system and the birth rate are down and are going to continue this way if the economy and peer pressure don't change. There's no peer pressure on marriage and having children, but there's a big one on having your own place, a car, a phone, designer clothes, and other things.

Quote from: cellard on December 19, 2018, 02:13:14 AM

I would like to have kids myself, but im also forced to not take that life changing decision because it's simply impossible to do it. The costs of living would go through the roof. It's difficult sustaining myself, imagine I also had to take care of a family. If I was reckless I would do it, but if you want to be able to save money and form a capital it's just not feasible.

And what's even more infuriating is that since we aren't having kids, the government blames us for not having kids and screwing up the demographic pyramid, and their proposed solution is to bring immigrants. We are basically being replaced by cheap hand labour.

I feel the same. With unstable job markets and unstable investments you're basically taking a gamble with a child's life. A child should have a place to live in and not cramp in a small rented flat with its parents. I lived in a small flat with parents and wouldn't wish my kid the same life, but a house with a garden has its price. Usually it's unaffordable for people in their 20s.