[Abin Sur]

...the populace becomes infantilized and does not on the whole assume the responsibilities of adulthood - like a earning a living, producing children, and otherwise providing for their posterity.

I would assert that someone who is a net tax payer rather than a net tax receiver while not producing children is assuming the responsibilities of adulthood. He or she is providing for themselves rather than relying on the largess of The State. Surely that is a quality of adulthood, rather than the ability to reproduce.

[p. henry]

I think you are raising a somewhat different question, to wit, on an individual basis is it true that someone who has chosen not to have children but who is otherwise productive and self-supporting can be said to have assumed the responsibilities of adulthood? I think the answer to that is certainly yes.

There are many reasons that responsible adults choose not to have children. Many years ago my ex-wife and I lost our two year old son to an immune deficiency he inherited from his mom. She chose not to put further children at risk. Others feel that they would be unable to support children or that they would otherwise not be suitable parents. So, on an individual basis, I agree with you that the production of children is not necessarily a sine qua non of responsible adulthood.

However, on a societal basis, since the production of the next generation is necessary for the survival of the nation and there is no one to do it other than adults, it is fair to say that the parenthood is an adult responsibility, one that Europe in general and southern Europe in particular is shirking; and I believe that their failure in this regard caused in part by the infantalizing effects of the welfare state.