Roman Empire per capita GDP shows the Romans were poorer than any 2015 country

Re:Roman Empire per capita GDP shows the Romans were poorer ... by smallnamespace on Thursday October 12, 2017 @03:09AM (#15456202)

I wonder if agriculture caused societies to go through a population explosion just because it became economically much more worthwhile to have young children.

I'd assume in hunter-gatherer societies, children would not be that useful for hunting until they are fully grown, or in gathering until they've spent many years learning where to go to gather what. Also not useful in making tools, since those would take a lifetime to learn.

Whereas children are readily useful in traditional farming even at a younger age, because there are all sorts of places one can employ unskilled manual labor on a farm.

Hunter-gatherer societies had very low rates of demographic growth. And industrial societies are also seeing much lower population growth, because children are an enormous economic burden.

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Re:Roman Empire per capita GDP shows the Romans were poorer ... by puranjay on Thursday October 12, 2017 @04:39AM (#15456531)

Additionally, hunter-gatherer societies require both women and children to be mobile. Pregnant women are a liability, as are children who can't walk by themselves.

This gives an impetus to at least wait 3-4 years between pregnancies.

There is no such pressure on agrarian societies.

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