Caregiving tradeoffs reduce fertility

When family resources (time and money) must be split between raising children and caring for aging parents, some households delay or forgo having children. This creates a demographic pathway where rising longevity and eldercare burdens depress birth rates beyond standard economic cost calculations. — If widespread, this caregiving competition reshapes labor supply, social‑care policy needs, and long‑term population trajectories, making eldercare policy central to fertility and labor‑market debates.