As many of you know, hardly a week goes by without an article, video or “news” item about the very low and still decreasing fertility rates in developed (and now, also some developing) countries. Usually this takes the form of expressing grave concern about the sustainability of this situation- usually centered around issues like sustainability of social welfare systems, ability to build and maintain infrastructure etc. Some wonder if government subsidies to encourage people to have more kids would solve the problem, while other blame feminism and its many consequences for the decline. A few even celebrate this decline claiming that this will be good for the “environment”- whatever that means. My point is that while most people can see the problem, they do not seem to have a workable solution for it. In the rest of this post, I will show you why common explanations for the real cause of this phenomenon are, at best, only a small part of the story- because the underlying reason is far more systemic.
South Korea actually has a rather extreme feminist movement (also one of the worst fertility rates in the world) While the other countries may not have mainstream feminism, they are still effected by liberalism.
Polling data shows the average woman actually wants 2.5 or more kids. The disconnect that occurs is probably many women can’t find a man they view as worthy of men, as many men are pushed out of the education system and thus job market, and those that do are usually much later in life and don’t have time to have as many kids as they were planning.
"Curiously, the rich and powerful (men) of previous eras usually had many legitimate and illegitimate kids."
Not trying to nitpick, but great post on something I have been looking at for awhile. Fertility rates spell trouble for society, especially if you look at immigration, race, and other factors. I want at least 5 kids myself, but we will see how that goes.
>Italy, Spain, Greece, South Korea, Japan
South Korea actually has a rather extreme feminist movement (also one of the worst fertility rates in the world) While the other countries may not have mainstream feminism, they are still effected by liberalism.
Polling data shows the average woman actually wants 2.5 or more kids. The disconnect that occurs is probably many women can’t find a man they view as worthy of men, as many men are pushed out of the education system and thus job market, and those that do are usually much later in life and don’t have time to have as many kids as they were planning.
"Curiously, the rich and powerful (men) of previous eras usually had many legitimate and illegitimate kids."
Not trying to nitpick, but great post on something I have been looking at for awhile. Fertility rates spell trouble for society, especially if you look at immigration, race, and other factors. I want at least 5 kids myself, but we will see how that goes.