4 ms·

IIRC in Western societies fertility does go up at very high income, so I think there's some truth in that common argument. "Lack of money to raise kids in the w

IIRC in Western societies fertility does go up at very high income, so I think there's some truth in that common argument. "Lack of money to raise kids in the way I wish my kids to be raised" may be closer to the truth. I think the large majority of Japanese has enough money to feed and clothe a lot of kids to an 18th century standard. edit with some links from a quick search : Here an article about this starting to happen in Sweden : https://www.niussp.org/fertility-and-reproduction/income-and-fertility-a-positive-relationship/ https://www.niussp.org/fertility-and-reproduction/income-and... A counter example from the US with fertility going down by income with no upturn at the top: https://www.statista.com/statistics/241530/birth-rate-by-family-income-in-the-us/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/241530/birth-rate-by-fam... And a study about Japan showing richer men having more children in the past: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9045600/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9045600/

jalapenos 3y ago
They have the money to provide for them to a standard higher than modern western countries, not just to an 18th c subsistence level. Also those money examples are minor details against the backdrop of poorer countries having more kids, and poorer generations in Japan having more kids (in the 4x region). What they lack is the will. That's not a judgement: if everyone's privately ok with the situation, e.g. letting the population steadily decline in hope a natural equilibrium point will be reached, that's one thing. But collectively lying about the situation and its causes is another. Otherwise, prioritisation (e.g. having hours of unnecessary meetings versus just go home) would fix the problem automatically steadily over time.
nerdponx 3y ago
> I think the large majority of Japanese has enough money to feed and clothe a lot of kids to an 18th century standard. Is that true? People still needed to cook and buy (or make) clothes in the 18th century. Are 18th century standards of clothing and food lower than they are today, or did it just take a whole hell of a lot more effort for a similar outcome?

jalapenos 3y ago

They have the money to provide for them to a standard higher than modern western countries, not just to an 18th c subsistence level. Also those money examples are minor details against the backdrop of poorer countries having more kids, and poorer generations in Japan having more kids (in the 4x region). What they lack is the will. That's not a judgement: if everyone's privately ok with the situation, e.g. letting the population steadily decline in hope a natural equilibrium point will be reached, that's one thing. But collectively lying about the situation and its causes is another. Otherwise, prioritisation (e.g. having hours of unnecessary meetings versus just go home) would fix the problem automatically steadily over time.

nerdponx 3y ago

> I think the large majority of Japanese has enough money to feed and clothe a lot of kids to an 18th century standard. Is that true? People still needed to cook and buy (or make) clothes in the 18th century. Are 18th century standards of clothing and food lower than they are today, or did it just take a whole hell of a lot more effort for a similar outcome?