the press says the west isnt having so many childrenany more, have they looked around?>

Part of the economic worry in the west is because governments know the upcoming generation is likely to be the smallest it's ever been because they're deciding not to have children.

That's fine in the short-term.
A reduction in population means fewer people requiring any form of government assistance will save money on benefits; healthcare and natural resources.

But if it's a long-term thing then that's a serious shortage of future workers.
That's a serious dent in industry and productivity which is also a future shortage of consumers supporting the current model of big business.

Lot of noise in the UK at the moment as government owned land is being sold off to big house builders who are developing it yet nobody now or in the foreseeable future is likely to be able to afford to buy or rent because salaries aren't keeping pace with hopeful pricing.

The human population on earth is dropping quite quickly. Less than replacement levels. Parts of Europe are down to 1.2 births per woman while replacement levels is 2.1 just to have a stable population. Thus the push to bring in foreigners. Not enough people coming up to support the social safety net.

It's all part of the false narrative of the Heritage Foundation. And believe me, they have a solution to make women produce more babies. They're going to reduce the options of women to make women more dependent on men. It's all outlined in the new document from the Heritage foundation, which someone shared in this section, but I cannot currently find.

Perhaps the stats are from a wider area than your neighbourhood?

Elementary schools are closing in every US state. So, nobody's planning a future, everyone is a fabulous Christian instead, making God come and end the world.
And fertility is like, not there.