Why is Fertility Collapsing, Globally?

Something dramatic is happening everywhere all at once: fertility is plummeting, with major implications for economic growth and social stability. The baby bust is a hot topic: fertility rates are nose-diving around the world, with serious long-term consequences for labour markets, economic growth, and public finances. This article explains why this is happening globally. Alice Evans, a social scientist at King's College London, argues that any convincing theory must be able to explain both “the global collapse and local variation” in fertility rates – simply chalking it up to local factors like property prices paints an incomplete picture. While easy answers prove elusive, higher levels of education and economic autonomy among women who are choosing to avoid the motherhood penalty and the burden of intensive parenting expectations and tap out from an increasingly misogynistic dating market could all play a part. Evans also points out that the decline in fertility ties into a decrease in coupledom and the explosion in personalised online entertainment.