A broad correlation that throws an alternative set of proposed explanations isn’t evidence that other proposed explanations are false. I’m sure you’ll find data among developed countries that shows people are citing the cost of raising children as a major factor for not having more children. You might even find that places which make child rearing cheaper and easier have higher fertility rates than those that don’t. It’s perhaps possible that the proposed hand wavy explanation about lifestyle choices and child mortality in the developed world is pure correlation and there’s another factor that is driving this which occurred alongside that economic development. Like I don’t know, increased cost of living and child rearing, disappearance of safety nets, increase in precarity of work, you know - the gifts of 50 years of neoliberal economics. 🥹
South Korea and Japan are both paying people to have kids, same with Singapore, it’s a major battle to get people there to have children. NPR recently did this article on it.
Is it enough? For an article that discusses this, it’s odd it doesn’t mention what it costs to raise a child. Paying money to parents without considering the cost isn’t very meaningful.
A quick search tells me that:
South Korea is the most expensive country in the world to raise a child to the age of 18, according to a recent study, a finding that provides a clear explanation for the nation’s falling fertility rate and the looming population crisis.
The annual study by the Beijing-based YuWa Population Research Institute ranked South Korea top of the list of nations for raising a child, with the cost coming to 7.79 times the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper, reported. That works out as KRW365 million (€251,562, $271,957). [1]
And China is close second:
China is second on the list, with the cost of bringing up a child 6.9 times per capita GDP, followed by Germany at 3.64 times and France at 2.24 times. [1]
Country
Cost
Fertility
SK
7.79
0.9
China
6.9
1.2
Germany
3.64
1.5
France
2.24
1.8
These four data points show an inverse correlation between cost of raising a child and fertility. This is obviously not a comprehensive analysis but it serves the purpose to show that perhaps fertility isn’t disconnected from cost of raising children in the developed world. And perhaps material like the NPR article which talk about the government “giving up” are more about creating a narrative that gets people to accept immigration as a solution, rather than digging into problems that would require wage increases and wealth transfers from the top towards the bottom. It should be obvious which classes are served by each solution.
A broad correlation that throws an alternative set of proposed explanations isn’t evidence that other proposed explanations are false. I’m sure you’ll find data among developed countries that shows people are citing the cost of raising children as a major factor for not having more children. You might even find that places which make child rearing cheaper and easier have higher fertility rates than those that don’t. It’s perhaps possible that the proposed hand wavy explanation about lifestyle choices and child mortality in the developed world is pure correlation and there’s another factor that is driving this which occurred alongside that economic development. Like I don’t know, increased cost of living and child rearing, disappearance of safety nets, increase in precarity of work, you know - the gifts of 50 years of neoliberal economics. 🥹
South Korea and Japan are both paying people to have kids, same with Singapore, it’s a major battle to get people there to have children. NPR recently did this article on it.
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/07/1236721014/the-population-problem-in-singapore-is-also-an-economic-problem#:~:text=CHILDS%3A Once Singapore realized its,in cash and matching savings.
Is it enough? For an article that discusses this, it’s odd it doesn’t mention what it costs to raise a child. Paying money to parents without considering the cost isn’t very meaningful.
A quick search tells me that:
And China is close second:
These four data points show an inverse correlation between cost of raising a child and fertility. This is obviously not a comprehensive analysis but it serves the purpose to show that perhaps fertility isn’t disconnected from cost of raising children in the developed world. And perhaps material like the NPR article which talk about the government “giving up” are more about creating a narrative that gets people to accept immigration as a solution, rather than digging into problems that would require wage increases and wealth transfers from the top towards the bottom. It should be obvious which classes are served by each solution.
[1] https://www.dw.com/en/south-korea-most-expensive-country-in-world-to-raise-children/a-65669257