Currently Nigeria has the highest birth rate in the world and doing research into the country’s social and ecomomic spheres, there really isn’t that much of a difference between it and other countries that have lower birth rates
In: 0
A large aspect is cultural.
Questions like, at what age is it common to marry, are contraceptives socially accepted, are children your old age insurance, or necessary as workforce for the family? Even things like polygamy wich is possible in Nigeria contribute to it.
There’s a lot of factors both socially and economically that affect birthrates
Poorer countries tend to have a higher birthrate. This is in part because contraception such as condoms and birth control is not widely available or affordable.
It is also because the quality of education is much lower, so you have limited or zero sex education.
This is also in part because the childhood death rate is much higher. Most people are shocked to learn that the average mortality rate for children without medical care is as high as 20-30%. This seems like an insane figure to us today, but the childhood death rate was that high in North America as recently as the 1940’s. What changed this was the wide spread availability of affordable medical care after the 1950s. When you know 1/3 of your children won’t make it to 4 years old on average, you tend to have more kids.
Poor countries also rely on families for labor and care. Social programs are very limited so you need that many kids and young adults to help tend the farm or family business, care for the grand parents, etc. This was the norm in North America as well at the turn of the 20th century. Things like nursing homes and automation are all relatively new things we take for granted.
Another important one is religion. Christian religions predominantly are very pro-birth and teach that contraception is wrong. “Go forth and be fruitful” is a core tenant of the religion. In poorer and less educated nations religious beliefs tend to take precedence over education and science. About 45% of Nigerians identify as Christian, 53% Islamic.
Lack of education for girls and women is a major factor in high birth rates, and when women have access to education the birth rate falls. Indeed, the more rights and ability to participate in society, business, and government women have, the lower the birth rate.
Education and economic / civic participation run alongside women’s status and legal rights in a society-including the right to decide for themselves when & whether to marry, whether they want children, and when they are done having children.
In other words, when women have the practical, legal, and social power to refuse sex, the birth rate falls, regardless of access to birth control. When women lack agency or legal protections from child marriage, forced marriage, trafficking, rape and violence, the birth rate is higher.
The most interesting and most paradoxical determinant for a high birth rate is a low level of education in women. I wish I was kidding, but there isn’t a single factor that is more important for a region’s birth rates than the average female education level.
Lack of education is the major factor as education rate rises especially for women the birth rate falls, women get jobs and careers and find out they can be something other than a baby making machine.
Low levels of education and economic development, basically. The natural state of humanity is to not have any birth control, and for people to be married and sexually active from around age 20 onward. Historically, the only reason women weren’t just constantly pregnant until they hit menopause was because breastfeeding inhibits fertility, so if you breastfeed your child for a long period (18 months is pretty common in hunter-gatherer societies), you usually won’t be able to get pregnant again until you stop breastfeeding.
The only reason this ever changes is when society develops economically, women start getting educated and delaying marriage, and people start getting access to birth control. Then birth rates begin to fall.
The countries with the highest birth rates today will be the poorest ones with the least education for women, the least access to birth control.
Currently, whilst countries like Nigeria is growing economically at a significant rate, their life expactency and healthcare however are a different story. They have an inefficient healthcare system that is poorly funded, and also because a lot of children may have high infant mortality rate. This puts more pressure to make sure mothers would have Atleast one child survive to adulthood.
Latest Answers