Re:South Korea: The only middle power of its kind
by tuatoru on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @04:07PM
(#28053518)
I remember seeing a study which followed the spread of TV across Brazil and the decline in birth rate. It was the soaps wot dun it.
Seeing new role models who had interesting lives, and especially learning that it was possible to withstand pressure from grandparents to have children seemed to be more important than mere availability of contraceptives or education.
IIRC there was a similar effect in Bangladesh, but it was harder to track since TV rolled out more quickly there.
Re:South Korea: The only middle power of its kind
by jsnell on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @09:42PM
(#28056331)
For anyone curious, this seems to be the study: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.4.4.1
Re:South Korea: The only middle power of its kind
by tuatoru on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @10:28PM
(#28056539)
Yes, that was it. Thanks! I recall reading about it on an economics blog, which mentioned Bangladesh also. That (Bangladesh) must have been a different study.
Re:South Korea: The only middle power of its kind
by xyzzy123 on Tuesday August 03, 2021 @06:35PM
(#28055065)
Agree.
One wrinkle is the gap between how many children women say they want when surveyed (about 2.5 in most western countries) and how many they end up having on average (fewer).
It could be that the surveys are asking the wrong questions, or that for some people they just never get the circumstances they want.
As far as I know that gap has never been conclusively explained. Hypotheses abound, of course.
Give poor women education and access to those, and even poorer countries will see similar declines in birth rate.
I think humanity’s growth was dependent on women not having a say in the matter. All the situations I see where women have gained the ability to easily choose whether or not to have kids lead to lower birth rates.