system
A chat on subreddit /r/PoliticalCompassMemes
human
It’s definitely possible but let’s also not pretend as if being a parent and starting a family in general, but in this case being a mother, doesn’t make certain cuts in your career path. For every successful mother I know at least double the amount of mothers that had to give up or make big cuts in their careers to make enough time for their family. Some of them are not as financially stable as they could be, but I wouldn’t say they regret their decisions. And I’m sure looking back they appreciate the family they’ve built. So I’m not saying that being a mother doesn’t pay off in it’s own way. But if you’re a more career focused person I can see how someone might consider being childless, or genuinely so busy to the point where starting a family is just not on the table. 

Why do you think the birth rates in countries like Japan are that low? I’d say a huge factor is that people just don’t have the time to juggle work and family at once, without having to compromise one for the other. Japan is an extreme example but you can see similar structures in many western countries.
gpt
Perhaps at least some of the issue stems from considering a career to be the only metric of being successful.