In the past 150 years the only variable that has correlated to lower birth rates has been women’s education.
While a lot of that can be specific efforts by women to delay having children, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if it was also because increased education means increased sex education.
“It’s true that birth rates are declining, particularly in wealthy countries where women have more economic opportunity. But much of that decrease—more than half the drop in the U.S. birth rate—reflects a precipitous decrease in teen pregnancies.“
I think there's this fantasy out there that the rape of young people isn't a part of teen pregnancy statistics. Pay attention to how many of those folks who complain about low birth rate also think "child marriage" is ok.
It's not. It's increased education->broader economic opportunities beyond the home->fewer kids later.
How we know: watching the effects of increased educational attainment make this happen in populations new to the US or newly empowered to work
(there used to be Men's and Colored help wanted ads)
I do not doubt that is the vast majority of it. But I’ve also seen evidence (at least outside the US) showing some people using contraception measures once they’re informed of available options, and it wouldn’t surprise me if some of that translates to the US as well.
...there's a ton of evidence that women adopt the cheapest, most reliable and most private form of contraception they can control as soon as they know it exists, going back to pessaries documented (derogatory) by scribes in early modern Europe
My point is US schools are not teaching repro health.
Family planning is a sphere of freedom that we in the US disastrously fail at teaching in our schools, at any scale that would be measurable in childbearing/spacing outcomes. That is a problem. I suspect it's caused by disagreement about whether it's good for women to be people with freedoms.
