This Pew graph shows that childlessness is most common among white women. It was so nearly 20 years ago, and it still is. One in five white women in her early 40s has no children and probably never will. Many of the most capable women say no to kids while most of those least fit to be mothers have plenty. Just look below:
Wow, I had no idea the change was that big! There have been a series of newspaper articles within the past 5 years or so about smart women wanting to become mothers rather than pretend their career will deliver them immortal fame, but still...
ReplyDeleteThe distribution is incredibly skewed in the early-mid '90s, and now it's much closer to uniform. Still dysgenic, but a lot more hope for better things.
One initial concern about the trend is that a college or advanced degree doesn't pick out the same groups in the two periods. Maybe higher fertility rates among the well-educated just reflect dumber people getting into higher ed.
ReplyDeleteI.e., 40+ year-olds in 1994 got their advanced degree ca. 1980 or earlier -- before the higher ed bubble really blew up. The '90s group was surely smarter than the 2000s group.
But it doesn't look like this is a problem. The effect should be most pronounced among the bachelor's holders, since that's where the higher ed bubble has been concentrated. Instead, their rates have remained pretty constant.
The change shows taking mass out of the bottom and putting it into the top. It's not like the stupidest were given advanced degrees and bachelor's degrees held steady. Rather, everyone has more education than they used to, by IQ score.
I believe it's called the Idiocracy.
ReplyDelete"Maybe higher fertility rates among the well-educated just reflect dumber people getting into higher ed."
ReplyDeleteAs usual agnostic knows what he is talking about. More women have more credentials but they are not any smarter.
The reduction of fertility for the not white groups is double than the reduction for whites. This probably is due to the fact that more minorities are entering in the higher education and need more time to complete the curriculum, because of a lower IQ.
ReplyDeleteSo, the better educated of the minorities will be saddled with much more debts and will be less able to repay it because they will enter in the workforce later. This imply they will be less able to bear more or the same number of children.
Fertility is falling anywhere and for anybody. Higher it is, faster is falling. This is because more people is moving to the cities and, in the cities, you are constrained by the local conditions to have a lower number of children.
What must be done is making easier for the people that earn more money to have children. There is no need of help for the people unable to earn enough money to feed their children.