5 ms·

Yet fertility rate in South Sudan is a staggering 4.9 vs 1.8 in USA.

by sintaxi 9y ago

chewz 9y ago
I doubt anyone is raising children in NYC on beans and casava or rice.
- beambot 9y ago
  What GP is trying to say: It's financially taxing to have 4+ children compared to 2 -- regardless of what type of food you have at your disposal.
  - tnzn 9y ago
    Except in that context you don't just feed children they also work with you at a young age so... There's also an economic advantage to having children
- timthelion 9y ago
  Don't knock it, beans and rice is pretty tasty. I don't think many people in NYC eat quality food. If you actually look at the ingredients list for many of the expensive prepared foods, you'll find that they may well be worse and have cheaper ingredients than beans and rice.
- ggggtez 9y ago
  Why would you even pretend you know how millions of people live?
- huehehue 9y ago
  I kinda thought the same thing, until I moved there. Lived next to a family of (at least) 6 living in an extremely cramped one-bedroom apt in central Harlem. Thousands of poor people living blocks away from thousands of wealthy people.
Retric 9y ago
4.9 is not that high by historic standards. Not everyone lives long enough to have kids. The second half of this may be BS but the difference in Africa from 1950-2010 is staggering. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_fertility_rate#/media/File%3ATotal_Fertility_Rate%2C_1950_-_2100%2C_World_Population_Prospects_2015%2C_United_Nations.gif https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_fertility_rate#/media/... PS: For comparison the baby boomers are from US fertility rates over 3.5 in the late 1950's. http://www.prb.org/publications/datasheets/2012/world-population-data-sheet/fact-sheet-us-population.aspx http://www.prb.org/publications/datasheets/2012/world-popula...
lukasb 9y ago
You say "yet" but "and" would be more appropriate. The fertility rate is a symptom of, among other things, high child mortality and low access to birth control.
- timthelion 9y ago
  and religion. We need to face the fact that religion, often religion exported by the west, is killing people in these countries. Almost all missionary religions forbid birth control.
  - umanwizard 9y ago
    Protestant Christianity typically doesn't forbid birth control, as far as I know.
    - timthelion 9y ago
      Evangelical protestant Christianity does. And the other forms of protestant Christianity rarely travel to Africa and other third world nations on mission trips.
quadrangle 9y ago
As others pointed out, population growth is highest when people are poor. Complex issue, but something where you can wait to have kids and have just one or two if you know that the kids will survive and thrive. A life that seems not only temporarily unstable but has no possibility of stability is one where people have lots of kids to hedge their bets that some will survive and be okay — plus the lack of health care, contraception, education (esp. women's education and career prospects)… http://www.gapminder.org/ http://www.gapminder.org/ for best perspectives on all this

Yet fertility rate in South Sudan is a staggering 4.9 vs 1.8 in USA.

chewz 9y ago

I doubt anyone is raising children in NYC on beans and casava or rice.

beambot 9y ago
What GP is trying to say: It's financially taxing to have 4+ children compared to 2 -- regardless of what type of food you have at your disposal.
- tnzn 9y ago
  Except in that context you don't just feed children they also work with you at a young age so... There's also an economic advantage to having children
timthelion 9y ago
Don't knock it, beans and rice is pretty tasty. I don't think many people in NYC eat quality food. If you actually look at the ingredients list for many of the expensive prepared foods, you'll find that they may well be worse and have cheaper ingredients than beans and rice.
ggggtez 9y ago
Why would you even pretend you know how millions of people live?
huehehue 9y ago
I kinda thought the same thing, until I moved there. Lived next to a family of (at least) 6 living in an extremely cramped one-bedroom apt in central Harlem. Thousands of poor people living blocks away from thousands of wealthy people.

Retric 9y ago

4.9 is not that high by historic standards. Not everyone lives long enough to have kids. The second half of this may be BS but the difference in Africa from 1950-2010 is staggering. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_fertility_rate#/media/File%3ATotal_Fertility_Rate%2C_1950_-_2100%2C_World_Population_Prospects_2015%2C_United_Nations.gif https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_fertility_rate#/media/... PS: For comparison the baby boomers are from US fertility rates over 3.5 in the late 1950's. http://www.prb.org/publications/datasheets/2012/world-population-data-sheet/fact-sheet-us-population.aspx http://www.prb.org/publications/datasheets/2012/world-popula...

lukasb 9y ago

You say "yet" but "and" would be more appropriate. The fertility rate is a symptom of, among other things, high child mortality and low access to birth control.

timthelion 9y ago
and religion. We need to face the fact that religion, often religion exported by the west, is killing people in these countries. Almost all missionary religions forbid birth control.
- umanwizard 9y ago
  Protestant Christianity typically doesn't forbid birth control, as far as I know.
  - timthelion 9y ago
    Evangelical protestant Christianity does. And the other forms of protestant Christianity rarely travel to Africa and other third world nations on mission trips.

quadrangle 9y ago

As others pointed out, population growth is highest when people are poor. Complex issue, but something where you can wait to have kids and have just one or two if you know that the kids will survive and thrive. A life that seems not only temporarily unstable but has no possibility of stability is one where people have lots of kids to hedge their bets that some will survive and be okay — plus the lack of health care, contraception, education (esp. women's education and career prospects)… http://www.gapminder.org/ http://www.gapminder.org/ for best perspectives on all this