The Friday File: Decades ago women faced substantial workforce discrimination, had limited control over their fertility, and due to limited labor saving devices, housework was hard. Thus, women looked to find a working man to marry. Today both spouses work, women are independent, and enjoying “quality time” together is what matters. Therefore, like-minded people are more likely than ever to marry, and as a result divorce rates are declining.
Tag Archives: Fertility Rates
Delayed Demography
As standards of living in industrializing nations improve, their population soars. Here’s why. As better sanitation, food and healthcare are introduced death rates in industrializing countries rapidly fall. But, birth rates remain stubbornly unchanged as it usually takes at least a generation for them to decline to the new lower “replacement fertility” rate. This process is called demographic transition.
Recession Reduces Romance
US births fell for a 3rd straight year. Births peaked at 4.3 million in ’07 but by ’10 births were just 4 million. In ’08 and ’09 the only increase in births was for women over 40. The decline is tied to the economy. Women who are unemployed or who have other financial strains are reluctant to start a family or add to it. A drop in immigration is also partly to blame as Hispanics have higher birth rates.