- Since the 1960s fertility was falling due to couples having less children
- In the last few years the fertility rate keeps falling. Seems like nothing changed on the surface. But under the surface there is a very curious trend: we're seeing less couples in the first place
- If that is the true cause now it is important because encouraging couples to have children might be the wrong approach altogether
I encourage everyone to read this article. There are a few interesting observations about that topic. E.g. there are some south Asian countries where marriage rates curiously are still high... why? The trend is also more pronounced in lower education social circles while total fertility is negatively correlated with household wealth and income. Another two puzzle pieces don't neatly fit together.
A few days ago I linked to a paper that examined the connection between having housing and having kids: #843781
So many puzzle pieces that don't fit together with this topic.