Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

People have lots of children when the risk of any given child dying is high. Lower mortality => lower birthrate.


Interesting point. You are saying that they make babies because they think they have a higher probability to lose them? I think it is too rational.

I would have thought other factors like lack of contraception and education would be more correlated.


It depends. In countries with a lack of social security and pensions people tend to look on their children as providers.

If infant mortality is high then they will likely decide to have many children to make their bet more safe. If they have girls and the local custom centers around having sons then that too might work as a reason to get more children, and the reverse will be true in places where large dowries are paid for daughters.

Having many children is also seen as a sign of affluence or blessing.

Lack of education and contraception are factors in the developed world too, people that have lower levels of education tend to have their first children at a younger age and tend to have more of them as well (both due to starting younger and due to not being able to accurately gauge the impact of having children on their lives).

I'm sorry you got downvoted, overpopulation (or simply the problem of how to match our numbers to the available resources without drastic measures or apocalyptic events) is a subject that requires one to face some harsh realities and ask some very tough questions.


Google "demographic transition" and read to your heart's content.


Done thanks. Someone pointed me to the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overpopulation




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: