Why Is Everyone Having Fewer Children? - Lyman Stone - #834

**Chris Williamson** (0:00)
Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the show. My guest today is Lyman Stone. He's a demographer, researcher and a writer. It wasn't long ago that everyone was worried about the population bomb, and within a few short decades, global birth rates are now declining. What's going on? What is driving such a rapid change in the number of children people are having? And should we do anything about it? I expect to learn the best explanations for why birth rates are declining, whether declining birth rates are downstream from declining marriage rates, what winning the lottery does to marriages for both men and women, Lyman's controversial perspective on the impact of sperm count and testosterone levels on fertility, and much more. Trust really is everything when it comes to supplements. A lot of brands may say that they're top quality, but few can actually prove it, which is why I partnered with Momentous. They make the highest quality supplements on the planet. If you've been struggling to fall asleep on a night time, stay asleep throughout the night, or if you're waking up not feeling rested or revitalized in the morning, their sleep packs are one of my favorite products, which I use every single night before bed. They contain only the most evidence-based ingredients at perfect doses to help you get the best night's sleep of your life. And there is a 30-day money back guarantee, so you can buy it completely risk-free, use it, and if you do not like it for any reason, they will give you your money back. Plus, they ship internationally. Right now, you can get a 20% discount by going to the link in the show notes below or heading to livemomentous.com/modernwisdom and using the code modern wisdom, a checkout. That's livemomentous.com/modernwisdom and modern wisdom, a checkout. I've won Whoop for over four years now, since way before they were a partner on the show, and it is the only wearable I have ever stuck with, because it's the best. It's so innocuous. You don't remember that you've got it on, and yet it tracks absolutely everything 24-7 via your wrist. It tracks your heart rate, your sleep, your recovery, all of your workouts, your resting heart rate, heart rate variability, how much you're even breathing throughout the night, puts all of this into an app and spits out very simple, easy to understand and fantastically usable data. It's phenomenal. I'm a massive, massive fan of Whoop, and that is why it's the only wearable that I've ever stuck with. And best of all, you can join for free, pay nothing for the brand new Whoop 4 strap, plus you get your first month for free, and there's a 30-day money back guarantee, so you can buy it for free, try it for free, and if you don't like it, after 29 days, they'll give you your money back. Right now, you can get all of that by heading to join.whoop.com/modernwisdom. That's join.whoop.com/modernwisdom. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Businesses that sell more sell on Shopify, which is why they're the global force behind Gymshark, Skims, Allo and Neutonic. When it comes to converting browsers into buyers, they are best in class. Their checkout is 36% better on average compared to other leading e-commerce platforms, and their shop pay means that you can boost conversions by up to 50%. Best of all, their award-winning support is there to help you every step of the way. Look, you're not going into business to learn about how to code or build a website or do backend inventory management. Shopify takes all of that off your hands and allows you to focus on the job that you came here to do, which is designing and selling an awesome product. Upgrade your business and get the same checkout that we use at Neutonic with Shopify. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com/modernwisdom or lowercase. That's shopify.com/modernwisdom to upgrade your selling today. But now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Lyman Stone.
What is the story of fertility rates in America over the last few years?

**Lyman Stone** (4:11)
They're going down, as in every country, essentially. So yeah, I mean, in 2007, the average woman had 2.1 kids per woman. Today, it's closer to 1.6, so half a child missing per woman, though, it's always a weird thing to say, which half of the child is missing? No, realistically, that means every other woman is missing a child that she would have had if birth rates were stable at 2007 approximate levels.

**Chris Williamson** (4:42)
What happens if we go much further back? What was happening with fertility rates in America in like the 1800s and the early 1900s?