Philobiblon

These are Australian figures, but they probably broadly hold in most Western countries, at least outside America:

…the people who get most out of our tax and benefits system are the almost 20 per cent of households that are elderly, thanks to pensions and health care.
The third of households with dependent children are roughly square because, though they pay a lot of tax, they get back a lot in family tax benefits, education and health care. (Sole parents, however, are well ahead.) So who does that leave to pick up the tab? At one level, the people at the rich end in each of those life-stage categories.
At another level, however, it leaves the 40 per cent of households composed of singles or childless couples of working age. They pay a lot of tax but get back nothing in family benefits and not much in education and health care benefits.

So next time someone tells you that you are being “selfish” if you decide not to have children…