Radical Solutions to Collapsing Fertility

2 comments

1. ss:

   What do you think about this article?

   Humanity is currently facing a rapid decline in birth rates and an impending global population decline. As the news blog said, will humanity be able to overcome in the end?

   Currently, the government that is most enthusiastic about policies to increase the birth rate is the South Korean government, but will they be able to achieve a successful rebound?

2. The problem with most policies and programs intended to raise fertility is that they dramatically underestimate the scale of the causes.

   Take the $70k payment South Korea is proposing. That is nearly enough to pay the opportunity costs between the sixth month of pregnancy and when the child turns six months old. It’s utterly too small an incentive.

   Hungary did better with its taxation benefits, but really needs to include the bread maker of the household as well. Consider if for each child the father also had 25% of their income tax-free forever after. That’s an economic incentive which goes a long way to bridging the affordability gap.

   Cultural fixes only help _after_ the economic obstacles are resolved. As long as both parents need to work to make ends meet while living in a one or two bedroom apartment raising children will remain too challenging for most to attempt. Culture can help make children the preferred choice when prospective parents needs to choose between a new car every third year or every fifth, but is powerless when living with children cannot be comfortable.

   Humans are animals and animals instinctively know when they do not have sufficient resources to raise children.