The Global Fertility Crash
In different countries all around the world, fertility rates vary in order to meet the needs of the countries and women in the countries. This variation in fertility rate is caused by the economic and cultural conditions in different areas of the world.
One of the countries whose fertility rate has changed over time to adapt to economics and cultural conditions is France. From 1960 to 2017, the average number of children born to mothers in France has dropped from 2.9 to 1.9. This drop is due to the cultural forces in France. Woman in this country have been fighting for years in order to build their status in order to be equal to men. To accomplish this goal, women need to work extremely hard in order to match income, match job status, etc. Having children hinders this goal because it forces women to be off work, only be able to work part time, and take more days off. For example, one French woman named Celine Grislain states that "after my third child, I went down to 80% time." Celine's work hours suffered due to her many children because she had to be there for them instead of working hard to gain a better income.
In Saudi Arabia, the fertility rate has also dropped. Form 1960 to 2017 the average number of children born to a woman went down from 7.2 to 2.4. This is caused by women wanting to be more independent and waiting longer to be married and have children, or just not having children at all. For example, Lubna Alkhaldi is a women is Saudi Arabia who has waited to get married until she accomplished her dreams of getting a job and going to school and until she finds someone she truly loves. "I am not married...I want to make and build my own family, under my conditions. I wanted to choose my husband myself, out of love...I wanted to major in media...I own my house...I bought my own car." In order to accomplish everything else in her life and gain a high salary of $100,000.00 a year, Lubna doesn't have as much time to get pregnant and be fertile, leading to her bearing less children. This has most likely become more common in Saudi Arabia, leading to the lower birth rate.
Another country in which fertility rate dropped was in China. The fertility rate dropped from 5.8 children in 1960 to 1.7 in 2017. Women working caused this drop. As women begin to work more, they have less and less time to be able to take care of children. For example, Summer Guan is a 36 year old woman working in China. She became pregnant when she was 34 years old and this caused her job to suffer. She didn't have the health capability or time to work as hard as possible due to her child. "before the baby, I was a typical career woman: working late hours, leading a team, tackling difficult issues, and always delivering at work." Many women in China want to give all they can to their jobs in order to gain higher wages and face discrimination, but children cause too much attention for them to be able to do that.
The final country with a drop in fertility rate was Nigeria (6.4 in 1960 to 5.5 in 2017). The cause of this is the drive of women in Nigeria to grow their career so that they can take care of themselves economically and purchase their own homes, cars, etc. In order for them to focus on their careers, women such as Abosede George-Ogan get married later in life, leading to less children being born since there isn't as large of a window for fertility. Abosede states this when she says, "People worry about fertility-'the clock is ticking'...if you were single for 10 years, you could accelerate your career to a point where when you got married, there's no stopping you anymore." Today, many women care more about making a good life for themselves than having children young.
As you can see, through all of these examples, fertility rates have dropped mainly due to women caring more about working and earning rights than being stay at home parents and having huge amounts of time for their children. The change in culture has led to this decline.
Another country in which fertility rate dropped was in China. The fertility rate dropped from 5.8 children in 1960 to 1.7 in 2017. Women working caused this drop. As women begin to work more, they have less and less time to be able to take care of children. For example, Summer Guan is a 36 year old woman working in China. She became pregnant when she was 34 years old and this caused her job to suffer. She didn't have the health capability or time to work as hard as possible due to her child. "before the baby, I was a typical career woman: working late hours, leading a team, tackling difficult issues, and always delivering at work." Many women in China want to give all they can to their jobs in order to gain higher wages and face discrimination, but children cause too much attention for them to be able to do that.
The final country with a drop in fertility rate was Nigeria (6.4 in 1960 to 5.5 in 2017). The cause of this is the drive of women in Nigeria to grow their career so that they can take care of themselves economically and purchase their own homes, cars, etc. In order for them to focus on their careers, women such as Abosede George-Ogan get married later in life, leading to less children being born since there isn't as large of a window for fertility. Abosede states this when she says, "People worry about fertility-'the clock is ticking'...if you were single for 10 years, you could accelerate your career to a point where when you got married, there's no stopping you anymore." Today, many women care more about making a good life for themselves than having children young.
As you can see, through all of these examples, fertility rates have dropped mainly due to women caring more about working and earning rights than being stay at home parents and having huge amounts of time for their children. The change in culture has led to this decline.
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