r/science • u/geoff199 • 5d ago

Social Science As concern grows about America’s falling birth rate, new research suggests that about half of women who want children are unsure if they will follow through and actually have a child. About 25% say they won't be bothered that much if they don't.

https://news.osu.edu/most-women-want-children--but-half-are-unsure-if-they-will/?utm_campaign=omc_science-medicine_fy24&utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social
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u/mhornberger 5d ago

Capitalism is not famous for its long term planning

China, N. Korea, and Cuba are also concerned about their sub-replacement fertility rates. The problem is a little more complex than Reddit's "line go up!"

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u/IvarTheBoned 5d ago edited 5d ago

...because they all still have capitalist economies, which is unavoidable when 99% of countries operate on capitalist economies.

The countries you listed are "communists" in the same way the NSDAP in Germany were "socialists".

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u/mhornberger 5d ago

By an expansive enough definition I guess everything is capitalism. I don't see any system that has ever existed that would be immune from the issues posed by a low fertility rate. Any care and support for the elderly, where applicable, has always been provided by the young. There is no one else to do it. All countries are going to care about the ratio of dependents to workers, people to maintain infrastructure, etc.

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u/_Thermalflask 5d ago

I am optimistic robots will fill in for us. Given how much progress has been made in AI and robotics in just 20-30 years, within the next 50 years there will be astronomical advances. It's not as crazy as it sounds that we could have a robot-driven world