Half Sigma posted this National Post article earlier on the phenomenon of “herbivore men” in the Land of the Rising Sun. There are a few money quotes in the piece (pun intended):

For decades, Japanese men were expected to work full-time after graduating from high school or college, marry and support their wife and children.

Roshinante, a university graduate, has no plans to follow that path.

“I don’t think my parents’ way of life is for me,” he said in a telephone interview. “I still struggle between the traditional notion of how men should be and how I am.”

…

“In the bubble era, whatever led to consumption was good and people measured their worth by money,” Fukasawa said. “But herbivorous men don’t buy things to show off.”

Partly, at least, that’s because they can’t afford to.

…

Marriage isn’t on his agenda at the moment, but he couldn’t afford it even if it were.

“I think there are many part-time workers who cannot get a full-time job and cannot plan their life and marriage. That is also the case of romantic relationships. While they don’t want to follow the traditional model, they don’t know what to do,” he said.

I’ve held that a significant reason why people, specifically middle-class persons, aren’t starting families is because they can’t afford to. This is largely due to the fact that a college education is now a requirement to remaining in the middle class. The massive amount of debt that young Americans must assume in order to simply qualify themselves for a decent paying job prevents them from marrying and rearing children. The U.S. states with the highest costs of living have the lowest fertility rates. If the rise of “herbivore men” is any indication, the same problem is occurring in Japan – the average citizen there simply does not possess the requisite wealth to have kids. If current trends continue, in the future, the only people who will be able to afford to breed are the very rich and the very poor.