[SeaGypsy]

Obviously you have a pretty cloistered existence Desu.
Its very simple. In the developed world, the chances of a child dying are very small. We just don't expect that & when it happens it's a hell of a shock. In poor countries, infant & child mortality is far higher, to the point where most families expect to lose at least one child, often more. If you look back at infant & child mortality rates historically you will see there is a definite correllation between these numbers. Also where there is no such thing as a government safety net (social security) the only safety net is provided by the 'pay it forward, pay it back' system, which relies on having successful progeny to look after you when you are old. If the chances of this are improved by having more kids due to expected mortality, these folks will have more kids.

[DesuMaiden]

Obviously you have a pretty cloistered existence Desu.
Its very simple. In the developed world, the chances of a child dying are very small. We just don't expect that & when it happens it's a hell of a shock. In poor countries, infant & child mortality is far higher, to the point where most families expect to lose at least one child, often more. If you look back at infant & child mortality rates historically you will see there is a definite correllation between these numbers. Also where there is no such thing as a government safety net (social security) the only safety net is provided by the 'pay it forward, pay it back' system, which relies on having successful progeny to look after you when you are old. If the chances of this are improved by having more kids due to expected mortality, these folks will have more kids.

How does the population grow when its food supplies are dwindling?

[SeaGypsy]

The same way they do normally, sex.

[SeaGypsy]

Have a look at Cambodia Desu, they tripled population in 3 decades, on the strength of learning to eat insects.

[Shaved Monkey]

People in developed countries are putting off child birth for economic reason.
The cost of housing is a major factor in Australia,job security, cost of living,higher aspirations of career,travel freedom and bling are also factors.
Part of it is end of growth/ PO effects.

[SeaGypsy]

True SM. To maintain a middle class lifestyle these days in first world countries it is mandatory for most families to have two incomes. Having even one child means a loss of one of these for at least considerable time, enough to mess up the mortgage payments. The scenario of couples deciding to pay off the mortgage first, then have kids, very often backfires due to losing fertility with age. Western women are only just starting to wake up to this fact, men too I guess.

[dashster]

Unfortunately, with the United States, only the birth rate declined. Population growth continues to soar as economic migrants are continuously embraced.

[Gorm]

One important factor in populationgrowth are that people live longer.

[Poordogabone]

Access to education for women accounts in big parts for the disparity in birthrate between developed and developing nations.

“MT [Mother Teresa] was not a friend of the poor. She was a friend of poverty. She said that suffering was a gift from God. She spent her life opposing the only known cure for poverty, which is the empowerment of women and the emancipation of them from a livestock version of compulsory reproduction.”
― Christopher Hitchens

[GregT]

Career women, and greed.

[DesuMaiden]

Access to education for women accounts in big parts for the disparity in birthrate between developed and developing nations.

“MT [Mother Teresa] was not a friend of the poor. She was a friend of poverty. She said that suffering was a gift from God. She spent her life opposing the only known cure for poverty, which is the empowerment of women and the emancipation of them from a livestock version of compulsory reproduction.”
― Christopher Hitchens

That is a pretty important factor.

[GHung]

*Economics (children are damned expensive)

*Access to family planning

*Women are more educated and career oriented

*Falling fertility rates (environment?)

*Decline of the nuclear family

*Adults have 'better things to do' than have children

*Awareness of over-population (and who would want to bring a child into this effed-up declining world?)

Not necessarily in that order

[DesuMaiden]

*Economics (children are damned expensive)

*Access to family planning

*Women are more educated and career oriented

*Falling fertility rates (environment?)

*Decline of the nuclear family

*Adults have 'better things to do' than have children

*Awareness of over-population (and who would want to bring a child into this effed-up declining world?)

Not necessarily in that order

People in third world countries fail to realize that their children will not have a good chance to survive, so they give birth to more children than they can actually support. This true in most third world countries like Nigeria, Somalia, Uganda, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. They need family planning so that they don't give birth to more children than they can support.

[dashster]

Access to education for women accounts in big parts for the disparity in birthrate between developed and developing nations.

So they say, but I would bet my money on a higher standard of living. Since the two go hand in hand, it would be difficult to separate them. But I think that when people have the money to do more things outside of their house, they would prefer to do them with 2 kids in tow, not 7. When they have no money and are mostly home in their spare time, more kids can make it less boring or more enjoyable. Married women working will also turn large families into a negative.

[Tanada]

People in third world countries fail to realize that their children will not have a good chance to survive, so they give birth to more children than they can actually support. This true in most third world countries like Nigeria, Somalia, Uganda, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. They need family planning so that they don't give birth to more children than they can support.

On the contrary, people living in third world countries are just as smart as you are and love their children just as much as you should. They live in a very different culture than you do so it shapes their vision of the future. Throughout the vast 250,000 years homo sapiens have existed on this planet in low technology we needed to have enough children so that our descendents would have an equal number as out own generation. Diseases and violent encounters meant for all of us that less than half of infants born alive reached the age of 5. Most of those who made it past 5 lived long enough to become grandparents, but not to what we consider old age.

Do you even know the definition of Third World? It doesn't really apply any longer to our planet. First World used to mean Western Europe, Japan, Australia/New Zealand and North America. Second world meant The USSR, PRC and Eastern Europe. Everyone else was lumped together as the 'Third World', the countries that were neither European style Democracies or Communism based economies. It was a very simplistic world view model of our planet, you were either with us, against us, or waiting to be wooed by us.

In reality individual countries are very complex interactions between the governments and citizens. When the nomenclature was created in the post World War II very beginning of the Cold War countries in the Third World were almost all more concerned with local issues and not concerned too much about either the First or Second world sets of alliances. Today pretty much everyone in a city anywhere on the planet has access to all the same technology you do, including the Internet.

[DesuMaiden]

Developing countries typically have less cars per capita than developed nations. The USA only has a population of 320 million and yet they have 210 million internal-combustion powered vehicles. China has a population of nearly 1.4 billion and yet they have fewer cars than the USA. Therefore China's cars per capita is far less than the USA's. But having more cars per capita doesn't necessarily led to greater happiness. So USA's citizens are not necessarily happier than Chinese citizens despite having greater accessibility to cars.

[Shaved Monkey]

Im sure they didnt count all the home made cars made by the Peasant Da Vincis ?
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=peas ... a&imgdii=_

[vtsnowedin]

But having more cars per capita doesn't necessarily led to greater happiness. So USA's citizens are not necessarily happier than Chinese citizens despite having greater accessibility to cars.

Hence the great wave of Americans applying to emigrate to China!

[vtsnowedin]

It should be noted that the rate of population growth in many "Developing" nations is declining from where it once was. Birth rates are declining but death rates are also so it will take time for the pig to move through they python. Education is the most effective tool. My parents had High school educations. My four siblings have eight children between them. They have been well educated with three of them holding PhDs and counting. The eight cousins have just two children between them and those to the only ones not holding a BA or better as of yet.

[DesuMaiden]

It should be noted that the rate of population growth in many "Developing" nations is declining from where it once was. Birth rates are declining but death rates are also so it will take time for the pig to move through they python. Education is the most effective tool. My parents had High school educations. My four siblings have eight children between them. They have been well educated with three of them holding PhDs and counting. The eight cousins have just two children between them and those to the only ones not holding a BA or better as of yet.

You are right. Better educated people are less likely to have more kids...that's a general rule of thumb.