Sorry, i don't buy into the whole 'in the olden days everything was great' idea. In the olden days life was just as hard (if not harder), raising kids was always just as hard as it is today. If anything it was made harder by the fact that birth control was not an option and families grew large whther the parents were capable or not. The only reason we have this idealized view of 'the good old days' is because in a sense only the good happy parts were preserved (there were no internet messaging boards to vent to so all the vents stayed in private conversations).
I recently came across a Teshuvah from before the war (I can't remember now from who), in response to someone looking for a Heter to abstain from having children (for lack of reliable BC methods) because his wife was having a hard time, the Teshuvah was saying how in the 'olden days' it was the common practice to abstain for a year after having a child to preserve the mothers' health, but 'these days' the generations are lower and such abstination may lead to problems.
Who said everything was great in the olden days? As a matter of fact, most things sucked - especially for Jews. (Aside from using rocks for toilet paper and other "conveniences"..)
Nevertheless, SOME values were better. For one, there was importance placed on raising a family. Women were not taunted as being a loser for choosing to stay at home and raise a family. Men were not taunted as "locking themselves in prison" for getting married. There was a special place in the heart of society for a family. People felt that this was the "pursuit of happiness" that every American is entitled to.
Today, this is CLEARLY not the case. Today's society popularizes the idea of "living free" for as long as possible. Getting married young is basically looked at as stupid and foolish, and having children even more so. (Because today the "pursuit of happiness" is associated with the "pursuit of fun", and if you have children you diminish your chances of having a lot of fun).
Your argument about birth control is irrelevant here. Birth control is an excellent thing in my opinion. It allows you to choose to have children only when you feel physically and emotionally ready for it. It also prevents a great deal of child abuse which occurs due to "unwanted children". However, this has nothing to do with the fact that having children is practically frowned upon in society, which in turn makes parents feel that spending their whole day taking care of their children is distracting them from what they "really" want to do.