The reason for the fertility decline is particularly difficult to get approach. Our rational mind wants to find a single unifying theory to explain why it is ha

The reason for the fertility decline is particularly difficult to get approach. Our rational mind wants to find a single unifying theory to explain why it is happening, but reality is likely more complex. There isn't a single reason why people have fewer children. Each society experiences challenges, such as housing, which bear some similarities but differ a lot in practice, so it's easy to find counter-examples if you're looking for a single-factor explanation. The article cites "changing norms", which reflects the broad social evolution happening—even rather conservative societies such as Iran or North Korea[1] have a below-replacement TFR! My pet theory is that this change is accelerated by the wide adoption of smartphones, which tend to “flatten” cultures toward global, westernized norms. It even happened in North Korea, which led the country to take radical, Orwellian measures[2]. [1] https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-kim-jong-un-birthrate-72d59d0e2c685549ba8cd8734d8a7fe2 https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-kim-jong-un-birthrate... [2] https://www.vice.com/en/article/north-koreas-smartphones-are-pocket-sized-orwellian-nightmares/ https://www.vice.com/en/article/north-koreas-smartphones-are...