ELI5- Why do people in poorer countries have more children than those in developed countries?
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There are a range of reasons for this.
A simple reason is that contraception and family planning services are harder to access in poor countries. That means it’s harder for people to have fewer children, even if they want to.
There are also economic reasons to have or not to have children. In poorer countries children are more likely to be viewed as an economic asset. They can work and contribute to the family’s earnings at an earlier age. In the absence of effective social security or pensions they can support their parents when they get old (or ill).
In addition, the “opportunity cost” of having children is lower. Having children takes time away from other things you could be doing, particularly working. People, particularly women, tend to earn more in wealthier countries. So they lose more money by having children.
Speaking of women, wealthier countries tend to have more gender equality. That means that the earnings of women higher – and they’re more likely to work in the first place – and the opportunity cost of having children is higher. It also means women have more control over their fertility: that is, more ability to control whether to have children or not (or to control the risk of getting pregnant). And generally women prefer to take fewer risks and having fewer children than men.
More complicated, and linked in with these factors are cultural factors. For example, having a large family being a sign of status. Or the willingness and ability of relatives and neighbours to help with childcare.
There’s also the question of when people get married, live together or get into committed relationships. People are more likely to have children when they’re in this kind of relationship, so the earlier in life it happens the more children they have. I believe this tends to be later in wealthier countries, but I don’t know much about this, so I can’t really talk about it.
*Edit: I completely forgot child mortality rates, as pointed out in /u/Target880’s post.*
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