Volume 30 - Article 37 | Pages 1074–1096  

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

By Ruth Mace

This article is part of the Special Collection 16 "Theoretical Foundations of the Analysis of Fertility"

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.

Author's Affiliation

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Cash transfers and fertility: Evidence from Poland’s Family 500+ Policy
Volume 51 - Article 28    | Keywords: cash transfer, family demography, low fertility, Poland, public policy

Lowest low fertility in Spain: Insights from the 2018 Spanish Fertility Survey
Volume 51 - Article 19    | Keywords: fertility desires, low fertility, Spain

Impact of family policies and economic situation on low fertility in Tehran, Iran: A multi-agent-based modeling
Volume 51 - Article 5    | Keywords: economic conditions, family policy, Iran, low fertility, multi-agent-based modeling

Fertility decline, changes in age structure, and the potential for demographic dividends: A global analysis
Volume 50 - Article 9    | Keywords: age structure, demographic dividend, demographic transition, fertility, migration, population momentum, working-age population

Near-universal marriage, early childbearing, and low fertility: India’s alternative fertility transition
Volume 48 - Article 34    | Keywords: age at birth, fertility transition, India, low fertility, sterilisation

Cited References: 55

Download to Citation Manager

PubMed

Google Scholar

Volume
Page
Volume
Article ID