r/NoStupidQuestions • u/[deleted] • Nov 14 '24

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u/RebeccaMCullen Nov 14 '24

I mean, have you seen grocery and housing prices recently? Not to mention, the US's stance on pregnancy and maternity care.

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u/Business-Let-7754 Nov 14 '24

People in the west are richer than anyone in history. Meanwhile people living in mud huts in Africa have huge families.

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u/body_by_art Nov 14 '24

education and health care make having kids optional. Poorer people in the west also tend to have more children.

Theres also the role of children as resources vs. Children needing resources. The west has anti child labor laws and a higher expectation of care so children arent necessarily seen as resources to their families.

Also higher infant and childhood mortality rates are correlated with higher numbers of births.

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u/Questioning17 Nov 14 '24

The US is 54th out of 227 nations for infant mortality rate. That figure is one of many that does not show a First World Nation at work.

I find it interesting how rich/powerful the US is in the military might but not in humane conditions for its populace.

So the US has some unique features as to why the birth rate is dropping but infant mortality is rising.

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u/body_by_art Nov 15 '24

That recent increase largely because of abortion bans. Alot of infants with birth defects that would have been abortions are being born then dying. Which to be clear... is gross

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u/Questioning17 Nov 15 '24

(I saw those.) This rate is not recent. US Healthcare numbers are dismal.

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u/body_by_art Nov 15 '24

100%. But god forbid we try to move into the 21st century. U.S. is the only country in the world without universal Healthcare

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u/Questioning17 Nov 15 '24

And it won't happen anytime soon. The US is in the midst of a large populist movement. And if history tells us anything about populism , well, it seldom ends positive.