Because eduction and prosperity reduce the brith rate. You don't need that many children to care for you when you're old, if you can expect to get healthcare. You don't shouldn't get accidental children if you're educated about sex and protection. In an educated society you will have fewer children later in your life, because perhaps after school you will also go to university, delaying the moment where you feel stable and settled enough to start a family. The more educated you are, the higher the chance that having children is a deliberate, careful choice, and not just something that happens. And last but not least, politics play a huge role in what incentives you have. Especially for this point, I recommend the Kurzgesagt videos about South Korea and Germany.
Let's not forget that it's also increasingly expensive to raise kids, so that deliberate choice gets kicked down the road. Later first kid necessarily means less time for more.
Poorer, underdeveloped countries tend to have a higher % of rural population, and they're incentivized to raise more kids as they'll later be able to help with the farm work.
I saw an interesting thing a few years back (which I can't now find!). It was a plot of energy usage Vs reproductive rates of various animals. The graph produced quite a linear line (more energy expended==>lower reproductive speed). Humans were wildly off that line. At least until you accounted for external energy usage (burnt fuel, electricity etc). That jumped us back to the line.
I'm still not sure if this was just a coincidental result, or pointed to a deeper correlation.
10 Comments
Qzr@programming.dev · 16 pts · 102d
Because eduction and prosperity reduce the brith rate. You don't need that many children to care for you when you're old, if you can expect to get healthcare. You
don'tshouldn't get accidental children if you're educated about sex and protection. In an educated society you will have fewer children later in your life, because perhaps after school you will also go to university, delaying the moment where you feel stable and settled enough to start a family. The more educated you are, the higher the chance that having children is a deliberate, careful choice, and not just something that happens. And last but not least, politics play a huge role in what incentives you have. Especially for this point, I recommend the Kurzgesagt videos about South Korea and Germany.bigfish@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 102d
Let's not forget that it's also increasingly expensive to raise kids, so that deliberate choice gets kicked down the road. Later first kid necessarily means less time for more.
Qzr@programming.dev · 3 pts · 101d
Exactly. Thank you for mentioning it explicitly, I shoved into the "politics" remark.
commiunism@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 10 pts · 102d
Poorer, underdeveloped countries tend to have a higher % of rural population, and they're incentivized to raise more kids as they'll later be able to help with the farm work.
Edit: Wtf are these answers
sobchak@programming.dev · 3 pts · 101d
They are dropping in poor countries too. Poor countries tend to have higher birth rates, but they are dropping.
cynar@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 102d
I saw an interesting thing a few years back (which I can't now find!). It was a plot of energy usage Vs reproductive rates of various animals. The graph produced quite a linear line (more energy expended==>lower reproductive speed). Humans were wildly off that line. At least until you accounted for external energy usage (burnt fuel, electricity etc). That jumped us back to the line.
I'm still not sure if this was just a coincidental result, or pointed to a deeper correlation.
hanrahan@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 102d
when women have a choice (income, a creer, birth control) they mostly choose 0, 1 or 2 kids.
For every woman who then chooses 0, you need another who chooses,5 just to maintain the status quo.
technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 102d
Poor people have more kids because their mortality rates are higher, etc.
More importantly is there any citation for this supposed "fact"?
mirshafie@europe.pub · 2 pts · 101d
https://www.gapminder.org/tools/?from=world#%24ui%24chart%24trails%3Afalse%3B%3B=&chart-type=bubbles&url=v2
A404@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 102d
Nuclear anxiety might have also played a role.