Not really a paradox, but also not intuitive. If the average number of offspring were 3, and also every woman had exactly 3 children, then mandating that every

Not really a paradox, but also not intuitive. If the average number of offspring were 3, and also every woman had exactly 3 children, then mandating that every woman has one fewer children than her mother would stabilize the population in one generation, and wipe it out shortly after. The "paradox" happens because of the skewed distribution of family sizes.