Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Global fertility has collapsed, with profound economic consequences

economist.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 273 posts

Re: Global fertility has collapsed, with profound economic consequences

#21

Post by hindsightbias »

SamoyedFurFluff wrote: post #4

The weirdest part is that I’m pretty sure women generally want a replacement rate (or more!) number of children when surveyed, but feel like they’re unable to support that number. Why can’t we address those? Edited to ask: some replies seemed skeptical so I went to find what I based this idea off of. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/upshot/american-fertility... https://ifstudies.org/blog/how-many-kids-do-women-want

Perhaps SV needs to disrupt the existing moribund market. Think bootcamp contracts, but targeted to infants. Pay to... exist. If you believe IQ is all genetics, there should be at least ~250K players in the SV market.

Re: Global fertility has collapsed, with profound economic consequences

#23

Post by lotsofpulp »

croes wrote: post #6

Wouldn't birth rate be a better word instead of fertility? There is a difference between not wanting and not being able.

https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-birth-r...

> Fertility rate determines the birth rate but, not the other way around.

I think fertility rate is the better metric here, so using fertility seems appropriate as well.

Re: Global fertility has collapsed, with profound economic consequences

#24

Post by refulgentis »

srl wrote: post #15
philosopher1234 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure the American allergy to welfare/social safety has something to do with it.

The American allergy to welfare and social safety has caused _global_ fertility to collapse?

its not global so much as prosperity-trap nations, there's enough of those these days (c.f. China) that it lets you say that generally globally, its true

Re: Global fertility has collapsed, with profound economic consequences

#26

Post by svnt »

abdullahkhalids wrote: post #11

This is the angle here. Don't stop the AI bandwagon! > With that in mind, recent advances in ai could not have come at a better time. An über-productive AI-infused economy might find it easy to support a greater number of retired people. Eventually ai may be able to generate ideas by itself, reducing the need for human intelligence.

As everyone who has non-programming friends knows it is basically just the shortage of ideas that holds back the growth of the global economy.

Re: Global fertility has collapsed, with profound economic consequences

#27

Post by SamoyedFurFluff »

yablak wrote: post #12
SamoyedFurFluff wrote: post #4

The weirdest part is that I’m pretty sure women generally want a replacement rate (or more!) number of children when surveyed, but feel like they’re unable to support that number. Why can’t we address those? Edited to ask: some replies seemed skeptical so I went to find what I based this idea off of. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/upshot/american-fertility... https://ifstudies.org/blog/how-many-kids-do-women-want

lol citation needed.

So I googled this and I don’t seem to be wrong. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/upshot/american-fertility...

Re: Global fertility has collapsed, with profound economic consequences

#28

Post by sneed_chucker »

philosopher1234 wrote: post #14
SamoyedFurFluff wrote: post #4

The weirdest part is that I’m pretty sure women generally want a replacement rate (or more!) number of children when surveyed, but feel like they’re unable to support that number. Why can’t we address those? Edited to ask: some replies seemed skeptical so I went to find what I based this idea off of. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/upshot/american-fertility... https://ifstudies.org/blog/how-many-kids-do-women-want

I'm sure the American allergy to welfare/social safety has something to do with it.

maybe, but American fertility rates are equal or higher than countries like Sweden, Norway, and Finland which have great welfare and social safety nets.

Re: Global fertility has collapsed, with profound economic consequences

#29

Post by lynx23 »

aemreunal wrote: post #8

As the article points out, having a choice, and not being pressured by society into having kids one doesn't want, certainly is a good thing. On the other hand, as the article notes: > [...] cannot afford to have more children, or because of other policy failures, such as housing shortages [...] the financial aspect is a huge blocker for those who want to have children. We live in a world where the majority of young p…

At least in my case, I moved to a city for more infrastructure, public transport and my job. I had absolutely no plans to raise kids there. In fact, most people I know move out of the city center to the suburbs once they have kids. I dont follow your analysis why less childbirth would automatically lead to deserted cities.

Re: Global fertility has collapsed, with profound economic consequences

#30

Post by btown »

hindsightbias wrote: post #21
SamoyedFurFluff wrote: post #4

The weirdest part is that I’m pretty sure women generally want a replacement rate (or more!) number of children when surveyed, but feel like they’re unable to support that number. Why can’t we address those? Edited to ask: some replies seemed skeptical so I went to find what I based this idea off of. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/upshot/american-fertility... https://ifstudies.org/blog/how-many-kids-do-women-want

Perhaps SV needs to disrupt the existing moribund market. Think bootcamp contracts, but targeted to infants. Pay to... exist. If you believe IQ is all genetics, there should be at least ~250K players in the SV market.

https://modest.io/proposal
Post reply on HN