Professor Claudia Goldin, a Nobel laureate in economics, analyzed the factors contributing to the decline in the global birth rate in a comprehensive study. In her opinion, the main reason for this process is related to the increase in women's independence and the change in their role in society.
As a result of the expansion of opportunities for education, professional growth, and reproductive control, women began to move freely in their spheres of activity. At the same time, the previous relationship between economic growth and the birth rate has also changed. For example, in developed countries such as Sweden and the USA, the birth rate is higher than in Greece or South Korea.
Currently, in more than half of the countries of the world, the birth rate is below the norm of population reproduction - 2.1 children per woman. Almost two-thirds of the world's population lives in these countries.
As Goldin points out, the main problem is inequality in the distribution of homework and mental differences between spouses. Men often want to retain traditional roles, while women seek partners who are ready to share work and family responsibilities equally.
This discrepancy is particularly noticeable in countries experiencing rapid post-World War II economic growth, such as Japan, South Korea, Italy, Spain, and Greece. In these countries, women spend an average of more than 3 hours a day on housework and childcare. Therefore, their birth rate is also one of the lowest in the world.
For comparison: in Sweden and Denmark, this difference is less than an hour, as a result of which the birth rate in these countries is higher. This clearly demonstrates the importance of social equality and family responsibility.
The study also showed that the decline in fertility among women with higher education in the USA began as early as the 1970s. For example, the number of children per woman born in 1950 decreased to an average of 1.64.
Goldin concluded that low birth rates are associated with "structural barriers" - that is, the absence of state guarantees for childcare and the unfair distribution of household duties between spouses.
The scientist emphasizes that if the state creates sufficient guarantees for childcare, leave, and equality in labor, this can not only reduce women's work activity but, on the contrary, stimulate an increase in fertility.
Thus, according to Goldin, in the 21st century, the problem of fertility has become more of a socio-structural and gender equality problem than economic or biological factors.
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