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Men are more involved in childcare in Sweden, yet fertility rates haven't recovered. There must be other factors at work, such as marriage rates falling or marriage being postponed (though having kids while cohabiting, and getting the marriage document later is a trend there, so marriage is somewhat irrelevant), later child-bearing age, and perhaps--more 1-child families? I don't know how this compares to Norway or Denmark.
The fertility rate in Sweden has hovered between 1.85 and 1.90 past years. Ok, it's below the replacement rate of 2.1, but one of the highest in the OECD countries. (Turkey, Israel and Mexico are the only at or over 2.1)
In the late 90's the TFR was 1.5, so it's a clear increase.
Having more higher educated women tends to lead to lower birth rates since a good chunk of them will choose career over having kids (who can blame them). .
The fertility rate in Sweden has hovered between 1.85 and 1.90 past years. Ok, it's below the replacement rate of 2.1, but one of the highest in the OECD countries. (Turkey, Israel and Mexico are the only at or over 2.1)
In the late 90's the TFR was 1.5, so it's a clear increase.
Thanks. I'd heard that, but when I googled, prior to posting, the info that came up didn't mention that. Do you know if Norway and Denmark have the same policies in place, that encourage fathers to be involved in caregiving?
Having more higher educated women tends to lead to lower birth rates since a good chunk of them will choose career over having kids (who can blame them). This isn't just a European thing, the same thing is happening in east Asia. Even Turkey, Iran and Mexico have seen drastic declines in birthrates for much the same reason just in the past 15 years.
Why does it have to be either-or, though? Why would it have to be a choice? Men have never had to choose between kids and career. Some European countries have policies and programs in place, to support working women with kids. And yes, it's a worldwide trend, because the UN emphasized improved education for women, starting in the 80's, as a way of improving the QOL for women and children, and as a way of controlling population growth, as women with more education tend to postpone child-bearing, and tend to choose to have fewer kids. We've now been seeing the results of this policy.
Thanks. I'd heard that, but when I googled, prior to posting, the info that came up didn't mention that. Do you know if Norway and Denmark have the same policies in place, that encourage fathers to be involved in caregiving?
There also might be problems with childcare - daycare, kindergarten, flexible schedule at work, company policies & family friendly companies, bosses attitudes, problems related how to combine motherhood with working life, costs of raising children - not just higher costs of living, but also the personal costs to parents of deferred professional advancement and individual fulfillment, the difficulty for mothers to return to the workplace also means women must make considerable sacrifices if they decide to have children, young Europeans may not feel the same social pressure to get married and have children as did their parents and grandparents....
The mentality: in some countries men still contribute little to the burden of childcare, and women are stuck doing most of the work. If the woman anticipates that she would have to do most of the child-rearing work, she realizes that this would impede her ability to pursue an independent career.
Considering Europe is a labor based economy, an increasing population is of the utmost importance. The manual crop picking and sheep castrating needs able hands, and many of them.
It is not like technology is going to replace jobs any time soon. /s
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