2 ms·
The demographic trends we're seeing now (declining birth rates for affluent people in the developed world) could be due to our natalism level being mis-calibrat
by InitialLastName 4y ago
The demographic trends we're seeing now (declining birth rates for affluent people in the developed world) could be due to our natalism level being mis-calibrated for our current circumstances.
It's good evolutionary strategy to reduce the birth rate to compensate for successful reproduction (i.e. more pregnancies that result in offspring that reach child-rearing age themselves), as otherwise populations will explode beyond the carrying capacity of the environment (or pay more of the fixed resource costs of raising children than is necessary).
What we see now, however, is that in situations where both pre-adult and maternal mortality rates are exceedingly low (such as has been the case for the last ~4-5 generations in the developed world), the strategy undershoots the replacement rate.