5 ms·

It's more an imbalance between social expectations and modern living. More conservative societies see a steeper decline in birthrate as women participation in

It's more an imbalance between social expectations and modern living. More conservative societies see a steeper decline in birthrate as women participation in the workforce increases. That's why France has one of the highest birthrate in Europe for instance.

novalis78 13y ago
I disagree, I think the opposite is the case. American Caucasians have a higher fertility rate than almost all Western Europeans; birth rates in France typically include recent immigrant fertility rates which are significantly higher. The arguments to avoid children are similar to the Japanese: independence, more money for consumption, etc Disclaimer: I grew up in Germany/Austria and find the topic of Europeqn demographics quite intriguing
- randomafrican 13y ago
  America does have a quite liberal attitude about gender roles. As far as France and immigrants go, I'm not sure relevant studies are available (since France has very specific policies about not mentionning race/origin in its official data). But My intuition is that the role of the immigrant population is overrated. Mostly because the keyword here is "recent" and while France has a rather large population of second or third generation immigrants, the recent immigrant population is probably not much higher than anywhere in Europe.
- camus2 13y ago
  Yeah but it's because you get a lot of welfare when you have babies in France,especially when you have 3 or more. Stop giving these freebies and fertility rates will drop in no time. The question is , should we encourage it? in the long run ,it doesnt make sense. We often hear on the radio here how Germans dont make babies anymore and it will doom Germany. I dont think so, one country doesnt need perpetual population growth in order to survive, i believe Germans are smarter on these issues.
  - guard-of-terra 13y ago
    "doesnt need perpetual population growth" It's no longer about growth, it's about decline now. Can a country with perpetually declining and aging population survive? In what form?
    - amercade 13y ago
      I don't think than "perpetual" is going to happen to any trend.
- guard-of-terra 13y ago
  American Caucasians' fertility rate is steadily declining. France has high birth rate for native French too. I'm not sure which one is bigger at the moment.
mtts 13y ago
> That's why France has one of the highest birthrate in Europe for instance. France has very active policies in place to promote large families, which is why if you run into a French couple with children they'll often have three or more instead of just one or two.

novalis78 13y ago

I disagree, I think the opposite is the case. American Caucasians have a higher fertility rate than almost all Western Europeans; birth rates in France typically include recent immigrant fertility rates which are significantly higher. The arguments to avoid children are similar to the Japanese: independence, more money for consumption, etc Disclaimer: I grew up in Germany/Austria and find the topic of Europeqn demographics quite intriguing

randomafrican 13y ago
America does have a quite liberal attitude about gender roles. As far as France and immigrants go, I'm not sure relevant studies are available (since France has very specific policies about not mentionning race/origin in its official data). But My intuition is that the role of the immigrant population is overrated. Mostly because the keyword here is "recent" and while France has a rather large population of second or third generation immigrants, the recent immigrant population is probably not much higher than anywhere in Europe.
camus2 13y ago
Yeah but it's because you get a lot of welfare when you have babies in France,especially when you have 3 or more. Stop giving these freebies and fertility rates will drop in no time. The question is , should we encourage it? in the long run ,it doesnt make sense. We often hear on the radio here how Germans dont make babies anymore and it will doom Germany. I dont think so, one country doesnt need perpetual population growth in order to survive, i believe Germans are smarter on these issues.
- guard-of-terra 13y ago
  "doesnt need perpetual population growth" It's no longer about growth, it's about decline now. Can a country with perpetually declining and aging population survive? In what form?
  - amercade 13y ago
    I don't think than "perpetual" is going to happen to any trend.
guard-of-terra 13y ago
American Caucasians' fertility rate is steadily declining. France has high birth rate for native French too. I'm not sure which one is bigger at the moment.

mtts 13y ago

> That's why France has one of the highest birthrate in Europe for instance. France has very active policies in place to promote large families, which is why if you run into a French couple with children they'll often have three or more instead of just one or two.