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'Remarkable' Decline in Fertility Rates

posted by mrpg on Friday November 16 2018, @02:15AM   
from the not-so-many-men-are-having-children-either dept.

upstart writes in with a submission, via IRC, for Bytram:

'Remarkable' decline in fertility rates

There has been a remarkable global decline in the number of children women are having, say researchers.

Their report found fertility rate falls meant nearly half of countries were now facing a "baby bust" - meaning there are insufficient children to maintain their population size.

The researchers said the findings were a "huge surprise".

And there would be profound consequences for societies with "more grandparents than grandchildren".

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Original Submission

• Re:no surprise Re:no surprise (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 16 2018, @02:46PM (2 children)

  by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 16 2018, @02:46PM (#762702)

  Filial duty to raise the next generation?

  I don't have any such duty, and nor do I have a desire to have children. I enjoy my time, money, freedom, hobbies, and property, thank you. Same goes for a lot of other people who realized that breeding isn't all it is cracked up to be.

  Parent

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• Re:no surprise Re:no surprise (Score: 4, Touché) by Phoenix666 on Friday November 16 2018, @06:28PM (1 child)

  by Phoenix666 (552) on Friday November 16 2018, @06:28PM (#762787) Journal

  I enjoy my time, money, freedom, hobbies, and property, thank you. Same goes for a lot of other people who realized that breeding isn't all it is cracked up to be.

  Neither are money, hobbies, and property all they're cracked up to be. None of those things loves you back.

  --
  Washington DC delenda est.

  Parent

  • Re:no surprise (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 17 2018, @12:26PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 17 2018, @12:26PM (#763065)

    Neither are money, hobbies, and property all they're cracked up to be.

    Maybe not to some people, but it is nice to achieve financial independence and not have to slave away for corporations until old age. That is a lot easier to do without children. Surely, not having to stress about being able to pay bills has a positive effect on one's happiness.

    None of those things loves you back.

    Some people don't desire that anyway. Not only that, but if you have a significant other, they can love you back. And, of course, children aren't guaranteed to love you back or take care of you when you get older, as the massive amount of old people in nursing homes whose children almost never visit them demonstrates.

    Oh, and by the way, having children places more stress on a relationship and thus makes it more likely to break down. Not to mention that there's a very long list of negative side effects that a woman can encounter during pregnancy and childbirth, some of which cause permanent health problems.

    If someone knows all of this and wants to do it anyway, then fine. But even now, people are too often pressured into having children when they don't fully understand all the downsides and exaggerate the positives, and childfree people are looked down upon.

    Parent