Lecture #3 (Section 7.4) Ideal Family Size is Culturally & Economically Dependent

Ideal Family Size Pronatalist Pressures Factors that increase the desire for children Source of pleasure, pride, comfort Source of support for elderly parents Current source of family income and labor Social status Replace members in society as they die

Pronatalist Pressure Continued Society’s need to replace its members may be due to cultural or religious values. Families with few children are pitied. Controlling fertility may be taboo. Boys are valued more than girls because they carry on the family name and often are expected to financially support parents in old age. Couples may have more children than they really want in order to have a boy. Having a large family in some cultures is a source of male pride.

Birth Reduction Pressures Higher education and personal freedom for women often result in decisions to limit childbearing. When women have more opportunities to earn a salary, they are less likely to have many children. Education and socioeconomic status are usually inversely related to fertility in wealthier countries. Example: the more education you have = the greater your socioeconomic status = the smaller your family size

Birth Reduction Pressures cont. In developing countries, higher income often means families can afford more children, thus fertility often increases, rather than decreasing as it does in developed countries. This may be due to the lack of educational opportunities for women in many parts of the developing world. In less-developed countries, adding another child to a family usually does not cost much, while in developed countries, raising an additional child can carry significant costs.

Birth Rates in the United States

‘Birth Dearth’ Most European countries, as well as Asia, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan, are experiencing negative growth rates. There are concerns in all these countries about a lack of young people to be soldiers, workers, and taxpayers. Some worry that birth dearth might seriously erode the powers of Western democracies in world affairs. (ex 1950 Europe/ N. America made up 22% of the world pop. By 2030, it will make up only 9% of the world pop. US is still growing b/c of immigration which provides youth and energy to its population. Another reason that may be contributing to declining birth rates in developed countries may be exposure to pollutants (toxins & endocrine disrupters); which may interfere with sperm production. Sperm numbers and quality have fallen by half in the last 50 years.

Is there an upside to ‘birth dearth’? Europeans & North Americans consume so many more resources per capita than most people in the world, a reduction in the population of these countries will do more to spare the environment than would a reduction in population almost anywhere else.