Women in rich countries are having fewer kids, or none at all. What’s going on?

<https://theconversation.com/women-in-rich-countries-are-having-fewer-kids-or-none-at-all-whats-going-on-229185>

"A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows
US fertility rates dropped 2% in 2023. With the exception of a temporary
increase in the fertility rate at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the US
fertility rate has been falling steadily since 1971.

Australia exhibits a similar pattern. Fertility has declined since 2007 despite
government attempts to invest in a “baby bonus” to encourage Australian women
to have more children.

Taking a more global perspective, we can see similar patterns across other
industrial nations: Japan, South Korea and Italy have some of the lowest global
fertility rates.

So, what is going on here? Despite highly valuing children and our roles as
parents, why are women having so few babies? And, importantly, why should we
care?"

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics