3 ms·

Are we sure that there's nothing else going on with fertility rates? It seems odd to me that one of the primary drives of humanity has fallen off of a cliff so

Are we sure that there's nothing else going on with fertility rates? It seems odd to me that one of the primary drives of humanity has fallen off of a cliff so quickly. Sure, it mostly manifests as a drive to have sex and we can get around that with birth control, but that's not the only thing it does to us. There's a reason the concept of the "biological clock ticking" is a thing. We know testosterone levels are dropping: "After controlling for confounders—including year of study, age, race, BMI, comorbidity status, alcohol and smoking use, and level of physical activity—total testosterone was lower among men in the later (2011-2016) versus earlier (1999-2000) cycles (P < 0.001). Mean total testosterone decreased from 1999-2000 (605.39 ng/dL), 2003-2004 (567.44 ng/dL), 2011-2012 (424.96 ng/dL), 2013-2014 (431.76 ng/dL), and 2015-2016 (451.22 ng/dL; all P < .0001)." https://www.urologytimes.com/view/testosterone-levels-show-steady-decrease-among-young-us-men https://www.urologytimes.com/view/testosterone-levels-show-s... Setting aside that semen quality is also affected... Maybe testosterone, or other hormones that might be affected by the same thing, also affect the drive to have children? It seems the more urban a civilization, the lower the birth rate. When I just tried to look up if anyone has looked into that I couldn't find anything, but here's a nice overview of different theories on fertility rates dropping as a whole: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8977063/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8977063/

jm__87 3y ago
Weird to be wondering if men are to blame here when women are typically the ones who have the final say as to when and with whom they decide to settle down and have kids with. Personally I think it is a combination of couples not wanting to have kids for a variety of reasons (not wanting to sacrifice their quality of life, lack of economic security, anxieties about the future), women delaying childbirth for longer to focus on education and career (and possibly waiting too long and not being able to have children by the time they are ready), women becoming pickier with who they choose to date and marry with the reality of hypergamy (women with higher educational and career attainment typically want to date men who are at least as successful as they are, and women are increasingly outperforming men in education and career these days). I'm sure men have some blame in this too, but most single men I know would prefer to not be single, but can't seem to find anyone interested.
- Auracle 3y ago
  I didn't say it was men. Unfortunately I haven't seen any studies looking at if women have also had a decrease in testosterone levels. Like I said though, it could be another hormone. Sure, we can find plenty of excuses...but to say that people don't want to have children anymore is like saying they don't want to have sex anymore - which seems to be happening more and more as well. Teenagers are having less sex than ever, in a time where knowledge about sex and birth control is at an all time high. I think something is screwy.

jm__87 3y ago

Weird to be wondering if men are to blame here when women are typically the ones who have the final say as to when and with whom they decide to settle down and have kids with. Personally I think it is a combination of couples not wanting to have kids for a variety of reasons (not wanting to sacrifice their quality of life, lack of economic security, anxieties about the future), women delaying childbirth for longer to focus on education and career (and possibly waiting too long and not being able to have children by the time they are ready), women becoming pickier with who they choose to date and marry with the reality of hypergamy (women with higher educational and career attainment typically want to date men who are at least as successful as they are, and women are increasingly outperforming men in education and career these days). I'm sure men have some blame in this too, but most single men I know would prefer to not be single, but can't seem to find anyone interested.

Auracle 3y ago
I didn't say it was men. Unfortunately I haven't seen any studies looking at if women have also had a decrease in testosterone levels. Like I said though, it could be another hormone. Sure, we can find plenty of excuses...but to say that people don't want to have children anymore is like saying they don't want to have sex anymore - which seems to be happening more and more as well. Teenagers are having less sex than ever, in a time where knowledge about sex and birth control is at an all time high. I think something is screwy.