Why is the number of children decreasing?

I feel like I understand the reasons for the aging population, such as improvements in modern medicine and better health for the elderly. But how should we explain the changes in the number of children and the birth rate?

The marriage age rising year by year, the lifetime non-marriage rate increasing, the birth rate falling... these are things that many people are aware of.

Why did such a situation come about? What are the reasons?

Respect for the individual,
economic reasons,
the advancement of women's status,
these all seem plausible, somehow.

Isn't it natural for people to get married and have children on their own? From the perspective of species preservation, that's how it should be. But that's not what's happening, at least not in Japan.

Example 1: The case of pandas

It seems that pandas have a hard time with procreation. I see news about zookeepers working hard to manage them in zoos, arranging their mating, pregnancies, and environments.

You might say, 'Don't compare humans to pandas,' but I think environmental factors are a major reason.

Example 2: The case of pumpkins

I remember helping my parents in the field when I was a child; pumpkins bloom with beautiful, large yellow flowers. They produce crops through pollination between stamens and pistils, and bees and butterflies help with that. Furthermore, to increase production efficiency, we would manually perform pollination by cutting off the stamens and applying their pollen to the pistils. I used to help with that as a child. (Was this the beginning of my sex education?)

Environmental factors are important

What I want to say is that environmental factors exist for both pandas and pumpkins.

So, what about humans?

In the past, there were systems like 'omiai' (arranged marriages) and matchmakers. Wasn't that a way of using external environmental factors to help people get married and have children? I think that is the background behind why people could marry young and have several children during their biologically most fertile years.

Even today, there are matchmaking apps and marriage hunting sites, so it might be the same thing in a different form. But I don't think it's the same.

What's different is the element of coercion.
In modern dating, marriage, and meeting people, individual will is respected. Marriages are formed based on the mutual agreement of the individuals involved.

However, in the past, arranged marriages were almost forced. Consent was just a name; they were marriages decided by parents or political marriages. There was the pressure of public opinion—the common sense that girls should be married by 25—and the pressure from all the relatives.

If it were a pumpkin, it would be forced all the way to fertilization (pollination). (A bit of a stretch, I know.)

Example 3: The case of the Philippines

I love Cebu Island and have visited about 10 times. My purpose was to explore the question, 'What is happiness?' And what has become clear little by little is that 'there seems to be a causal relationship between the number of children and happiness.'

On the left is Japan's population pyramid, and on the right is the Philippines'.
The Philippines forms a perfect triangle, doesn't it?

You can tell as soon as you walk through the streets: there are many children. Everyone is laughing, having fun, and full of energy! It's a bit noisy and loud, but it's full of vitality. A 73-year-old Japanese person said this while we were taking a walk through the city.

"In Japan after the war, it was like this, with so many children."

In the case of the Philippines, children continue to be born. I'm not talking about pandas or pumpkins; I'm talking about humans. What could be the reason for this difference???

I will think about this again sometime and use it as a topic for a note. That's all for today.