Describe the factors of death costs change in the size of population
Answers
Economic development. Countries who are in the early stages of economic development tend to have higher rates of population growth. In agriculturally based societies, children are seen as potential income earners. From an early age, they can help with household tasks and collecting the harvest. Also, in societies without state pensions, parents often want more children to act as an insurance for their old age. It is expected children will look after parents in old age. Becuase child mortality rates are often higher, therefore there is a need to have more children to ensure the parents have sufficient children to look after them in old age.
Education. In developed countries, education is usually compulsory until the age of 16. As education becomes compulsory, children are no longer economic assets – but economic costs. In the US, it is estimated a child can cost approx $230,000 by the time they leave college. Therefore, the cost of bringing up children provides an incentive to reduce family size.
Quality of children. Gary Becker produced a paper in 1973 with H.Gregg Lewis which stated that parents choose the number of children based on a marginal cost and marginal benefit analysis. In developed countries with high rates of return from education, parents have an incentive to have a lower number of children and spend more on their education – to give their children not just standard education but a relatively better education than others. To be able to give children the best start in life, it necessitates smaller families. Becker noted rising real GDP per capita was generally consistent with smaller families.