The days of huge families are gone, the modern nuclear families are limited to three members- mom, dad and the kid. Replacement fertility rates (RFR) are dying around the world and South Korea tops the list! What is the replacement fertility rate anyway? It is the level of fertility at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next. The ideal fertility rate is considered to be 2.1 which implies a couple should have two children to replace them. If you think these rates have anything to do with a person's sexual fertility then you're wrong, instead, these rates are falling because of increasing individual freedom, labour force participation especially in women and rising inflation as well.
The modern lifestyle is providing people more opportunities in their professional as well as their personal lives. Due to these opportunities, modern society values more individual freedom, equal gender roles and accepts diverse opinions. People are choosing to remain single and focus more on their careers, some are choosing to stay in intimate relationships and live-ins without getting married. While most of the married couples are not willing to raise a family early or they choose to have only one child. Greater access to contraception has made it easier for people to plan their family according to their will and their financial and psychological situations. According to the World Bank data, the global fertility rate was 2.4 children per woman in 2019. In South Korea, the RFR is below 1 in 2023. In China, it is 1.7, there has been an 18% increase in the fertility rates since 2022. In Japan it is 1.3 with a 0.07% decline since 2022; the US, Russia, Ukraine, Spain, Bosnia, Italy, and several other South Asian and European countries have their RFR below 2.1 - the ideal rate. In India itself, "hum aur humare do" was a popular slogan in our culture as we are a country who value family sentiments and the feelings of togetherness; but this seems to have changed in the past few years. In many Indian states, the urban fertility rates are below 2.1, in Sikkim, it is below 1. Why are these rates dying out? Because women are choosing their careers before marrying or giving birth to a child, couples are opting to raise only one child to manage their financial condition while providing a quality education and required resources for them to build a good professional life. Their frame of mind behind this thought is as simple as it sounds, every parent wants to give the best to their children.
What would these sheer declines in the RFR ratio lead to? A dying population! Yes, you read it right. The situation in Japan is such that the average age of business owners has risen to around 62. Nearly 60% of the country’s businesses report that they have no plan for what comes next, they are struggling to find successors. Increasing financial pressures and a desire to live without social obligations are driving people to reject marriage proposals especially with those who do not meet their conditions because 'it is a waste of time' they believe. Today, Japan is a land of ageing baby boomers and young adults who don’t want to have kids. Do we want the entire world to suffer the same fate? Is this how humanity is going to die out instead of a kryptonite leading us to our graves?
Comments