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Comment by elric | Hacker News Reader

Sigh.

Low birth rates are not caused by reduced sperm quality. They are caused by economic issues. Wealthier populations typically have fewer offspring. The negative trends in places like Japan (and presumably Korea) are caused by the high cost of living, the lack of support for parents (lacking or overly expensive childcare etc).

No one is suggesting turning off sperm production in every male.

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I agree with you that being richer means less children, but what you proceed to say makes no sense: The rich can't afford to live?

To an extent it tracks. No one wants their children to have fewer opportunities than they did, so a ‘rich’ person will probably have to plan on expensive tuitions and other activities. Obviously once you hit the ultra rich this is a rounding error, but for the middle class I see this dynamic at play.

I can afford one private school tuition, I can’t afford 3. Obviously that’s not a requirement for life, but I went to an expensive private school, do I not want my kids to have similar opportunities? Etc.

Who's talking about the rich? Wealtht countries have uneven wealth distributions. The rich certainly can afford housekeepers and nannies and private tutors. A couple of middle school teachers cannot.

Can we truly say that these populations are wealthy then?

Is that a philosophical question? I would argue that most countries with <1 birthrates are objectively wealthy. Doesn't mean the wealth is necessarily spread equitably, or even that the countries have their priorities right...

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