"Whereas in the simulations, the larger populations were allowed to have only one child per couple".
This seemed a little strange to me. If you have only a single child per couple wouldn't you expect the population to at least half each generation?
This seemed a little strange to me. If you have only a single child per couple wouldn't you expect the population to at least half each generation?
So for a stable population in the long run couples need to be having on average around 2 kids each (assuming they are not immortal, if everyone is immortal then no kids are required for a stable population).
Of course if we take "couple" very literally then perhaps we might allow people to have as many kids as they chose provided they have each with a different partner (to form a new "couple"). This seems like rule bending though.
Without rule bending one kid per couple just couldn't work in the long run.