Regarding the fact that these ads promote playing games instead of having sex … umm, that’s basically what happened. Sounds crazy but, ya, young people are having less sex today, and the birth rate has dropped precipitously. You can list a dozen other factors that would impact this as well (economy, education, etc) but access to video games does seem to correlate. Sometimes correlation IS causation.

[–] bearboiblake@pawb.social 1 points 1 hour ago

I don't think this is true. You can disprove this by comparing the fertility rates to the popularity of gaming in different countries, for example in Sweden birth rates rose considerably between 2000 and 2010 despite gaming being an extremely popular pastime in Sweden.

There are lots of factors involved of course but the largest ones are things like widespread access to birth control, being able to afford to raise a child and feeling like you live in a stable, safe environment to raise a child.