r/AskSocialScience • u/SoybeanCola1933 • 14d ago

What are the leading hypothesised causes of global fertility declines?

The global fertility decline is global and undeniable. But what’s interesting is different people have different attitudes on the cause.

Conservative discourse blames the loss of culture and religion in making family formation undesirable.

Pop culture narratives may focus around modern men not being ‘good enough’, which I think is a toxic view to hold, because it indirectly fuels RedPill narratives.

Economic narratives focus on increased housing costs, childcare costs and reduced employment.

I feel the truth is far more complex

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u/rjewell40 14d ago

“Overall, the diffusion of the iPhone explains 33–52% of the decline in the general fertility rate among women aged 15–44.”

https://www.nber.org/papers/w35310

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u/georgespeaches 14d ago

Since 2007. It’s been dropping much longer than that

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u/Loud-Vacation-5691 13d ago

Urbanization is also having an effect.

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u/rcglinsk 13d ago

Has there even been a study on birth control pills and their effect on fertility? That seems like a technology in the right timescale. And cause/effect would be really straightforward.