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When not to have another baby: An evolutionary approach to low fertility

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  • Ruth Mace

    (University College London (UCL))

Abstract

Background: In this paper, I explain the theoretical foundations of fertility from the perspective of evolutionary demography and evolutionary anthropology. Objective: My goal in this paper is to provide examples of how evolutionary demography is generating and testing new hypotheses about human fertility and parental behaviour. Methods: To illustrate the paradigm of low fertility, I present several evolutionary explanations for reduced fertility, or no fertility at all. The explanations I cite are drawn from studies on child maltreatment, homosexual preference, post-demographic transition low fertility, and late-life low fertility (menopause), as these are phenomena that appear to challenge evolutionary approaches. Conclusions: I find that the sophisticated tools of behavioural ecology and evolutionary anthropology and demography can do more than simply explain high fertility, and are currently being used to generate and test new hypotheses about fertility, including hypotheses that address the issue of low fertility.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruth Mace, 2014. "When not to have another baby: An evolutionary approach to low fertility," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 30(37), pages 1074-1096.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:30:y:2014:i:37
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2014.30.37
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ruth Mace, 2013. "The cost of children," Nature, Nature, vol. 499(7456), pages 32-33, July.
    2. Munshi, Kaivan & Myaux, Jacques, 2006. "Social norms and the fertility transition," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 1-38, June.
    3. Sarah E. Hill & H. Kern Reeve, 2005. "Low fertility in humans as the evolutionary outcome of snowballing resource games," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 16(2), pages 398-402, March.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Paul Rotering & Hilde Bras, 2019. "The age difference between spouses and reproduction in 19th century Sweden," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(37), pages 1059-1090.
    2. Denton, Kaleda K. & Kendal, Jeremy R. & Ihara, Yasuo & Feldman, Marcus W., 2023. "Cultural niche construction with application to fertility control: A model for education and social transmission of contraceptive use," Theoretical Population Biology, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 1-14.
    3. Sergi Vidal & Johannes Huinink & Michael Feldhaus, 2017. "Fertility Intentions and Residential Relocations," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(4), pages 1305-1330, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    demographic transition; evolution; low fertility; kin selection; menopause; parental investment; child abuse; homosexuality; behavioral ecology;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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