Quote:
Originally posted by Sidd Finch
I understand all of that, but it all contradicts Hello's argument. If the safety net causes the birthrate to drop, then you would expect the birthrate to be lower in the late 50s and early 60s than it is now, when the safety net is less solid than it was.
What causes a reduced birthrate? Prosperity is surely one thing -- the knowledge that you don't need lots of kids to support you. But this country has been prosperous for quite some time, and the birthrate has fluctuated substantially during that time. Greater opportunity for women is probably a more significant cause than any other factor -- as women pursue educations and careers, they are less likely to have children, particularly earlier in their lives. If you don't start breeding in your 20s, you are likely to have fewer, or even no, kids.
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The big exception you left out is Russia. They have probably the biggest negative growth rate and they are not very well developed. So clearly female education, access to birth control (developed Latin American countrys have higher birth rates than their counterparts in the rest of the world) and woman's rights are a big factor.
However, having said that, their is high a correlation between increasing PCI and decreasing population growth rates. It is a pretty safe bet if you want to reduce a populations growth rate you just increase its PCI.
