The surveys I've seen suggest that way more people want to have children than actually have them... and the biggest driver for waiting is the cost of housing. So many people are stuck in small places or still living with their parents and simply cannot afford to buy a place or rent something big enough for a family.
I'm extremely confident that if countries increased the availability of affordable housing, the birthrate will increase and people will have children in their 20s as opposed to their late 30s now.
Having kids may even help you reconnect with the habits of your youth... oh, the little ones want me to play Lego with them?... Absolutely!
This is an excuse too. I have heard the same in Australia, and then come to Finland where the houses are much smaller on average. A family with two young kids in a 70m2 apartment isn't untypical here. There is an expectation that in order to have kids, there needs to be a lot of room, but is it really the case? Was that what it was like a few decades ago? I grew up sharing a room with a brother, but that is almost unheard of now it seems.
Affordable housing is another story. I don't get how in Australia the housing companies are collapsing, but there is demand for more housing. That is stupid.
Having kids is awesome to release the inner child :)
I don't think it's an excuse... if you're still living with your parents, it's harder to date, it's harder to maintain relationships and its unlikely that the family home will have space for the parents, kids and then potential grandkids too. Not impossible of course, but it's what people aim for. The square footage isn't the issue, it's the physical separation from other people (ie, a crying baby waking up parents and grandparents every night instead of just parents).
The lean towards massive McMansions is more of a economic issue than a consumer preference. Builders made more profit on that type of housing so that's what was built. New houses generally don't have a lot of backyard space, because again, it was more profitable. If apartments were more profitable we'd have so many of them I'm sure.
From what I understand is the reason housing companies are collapsing is because the last couple of Liberal Federal governments decimated the trade school education route and so now Australia doesn't have enough qualified tradies to build all the housing it needs.