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> And that in a world where few make it to adulthood, people tried to have more children? It's pretty well-established that it isn't poverty per se but gender

> And that in a world where few make it to adulthood, people tried to have more children? It's pretty well-established that it isn't poverty per se but gender equality that predicts birth rates.

Grustaf 6y ago
I'm not sure what your point is here. I simply mean that e.g. during the stone age most children died early, so you needed to have more of them.
- bildung 6y ago
  Then I obviously misunderstood you, sorry for the confusion.
jmll 6y ago
Genuinely interested, could you share some academic literature on the subject?
- bildung 6y ago
  The newest I immediately remember is this: https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol40/2/ https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol40/2/ Here is a blog post of the author in case the above is not readable for you: https://www.niussp.org/article/gender-equality-and-fertility-is-there-a-connection/ https://www.niussp.org/article/gender-equality-and-fertility... This study is in the context of previous assumptions of a U-curved relationship: low equality == high birth rates, medium equality == low birth rates, high equality == high birth rates. That study shows that the last part doesn't seem to be true.
  - jmll 6y ago
    Thanks!
pessimizer 6y ago
Poverty can probably actually lower birth rates by forcing women into the workforce. If a parent is at home, the marginal cost is a lot lower for another child than it is if people are paying for childcare.
- bildung 6y ago
  Direct correlation of female workforce participation and poverty shows no trend: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/female-labor-force-participation-rates-by-national-per-capita-income?tab=chart&stackMode=absolute&minPopulationFilter=1000000&country=&region=World https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/female-labor-force-partic... The macro trend of poverty <> birth rates points in the opposite direction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_and_fertility https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_and_fertility Data points on the very poor end are all over the place, though. The high workforce participation -> low birth rate correlation is definitely visible over time: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/fertility-and-female-labor-force-participation?tab=chart&time=1960..latest&country=&region=World https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/fertility-and-female-labo...

> And that in a world where few make it to adulthood, people tried to have more children? It's pretty well-established that it isn't poverty per se but gender equality that predicts birth rates.

Grustaf 6y ago

I'm not sure what your point is here. I simply mean that e.g. during the stone age most children died early, so you needed to have more of them.

bildung 6y ago
Then I obviously misunderstood you, sorry for the confusion.

jmll 6y ago

Genuinely interested, could you share some academic literature on the subject?

bildung 6y ago
The newest I immediately remember is this: https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol40/2/ https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol40/2/ Here is a blog post of the author in case the above is not readable for you: https://www.niussp.org/article/gender-equality-and-fertility-is-there-a-connection/ https://www.niussp.org/article/gender-equality-and-fertility... This study is in the context of previous assumptions of a U-curved relationship: low equality == high birth rates, medium equality == low birth rates, high equality == high birth rates. That study shows that the last part doesn't seem to be true.
- jmll 6y ago
  Thanks!

pessimizer 6y ago

Poverty can probably actually lower birth rates by forcing women into the workforce. If a parent is at home, the marginal cost is a lot lower for another child than it is if people are paying for childcare.

bildung 6y ago
Direct correlation of female workforce participation and poverty shows no trend: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/female-labor-force-participation-rates-by-national-per-capita-income?tab=chart&stackMode=absolute&minPopulationFilter=1000000&country=&region=World https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/female-labor-force-partic... The macro trend of poverty <> birth rates points in the opposite direction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_and_fertility https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_and_fertility Data points on the very poor end are all over the place, though. The high workforce participation -> low birth rate correlation is definitely visible over time: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/fertility-and-female-labor-force-participation?tab=chart&time=1960..latest&country=&region=World https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/fertility-and-female-labo...