I live with my 5 adult sons. Here are the reasons they have ~no realistic options to start their own families.<p>1) In 2024, four typical incomes were needed to make basic bills and maybe have a minimal cushion. The 2025 trends seem ominous.<p>2) Parenting time has risen from a few hours per week (my parents' gen) to 24/7 adulting (my gen). Kids' free-range area shrunk from sq mi (my gen) to sq ft (my kids gen), primarily due to the rise of car culture, trespassing culture and relentless false stranger-danger messaging.<p>3) My parents gen (silent) grew up in a many-adults-available community. My wife and I became parents with no support at all; we were on our own. Some families have a g-parent or two - still a tiny percent of the support humans historically grew up with.<p>4) Due to 2 & 3: Two (or less) modern parents have to perform the roles of many diverse adults, every moment of every day/week/year. It's an impossibility; it consumes all our personal resources and gives comparatively little in return.<p>I am a far more skilled and attentive parent than my mother was (I had no choice), yet my kids had far, <i>far</i>, less growth opportunity than I did.<p>For modern young adults, having children is increasingly absurd proposition. The expectation that they should - that seems to be a farce.