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Comment by ImprovedSilence | Hacker News Reader

While not “necessarily” poverty related, I read somewhere once that India wanted to bring TV to as many rural households as possible. The reasoning being is that People are not having kids because cheap labor, they’re having kids because there is nothing else to do at night for entertainment, and contraceptive use is non existent.

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I'd dispute a lot of what is in that source. Their heat-maps of various characteristics are a correlation only, and a correlation among things which tend to go together (fertility rate, tv ownership (wealth), gdp per capita, and female literacy usually increase in tandem as part of a cultural shift). This does not necessarily mean they cause each other.

Also, ought we really to be brainwashing people to live how we wish them to?

All good points. While I think TV is perhaps too specific an example, my personal hypothesis is that availability of other forms of entertainment is a cause of declining birth rate. I’d say close to half of my married friend couples do not plan on having kids, and their main reasoning is usually that they like their social life, freedom to travel, ability get out in the weekends and generally do what they want. Also often they don’t seem too keen on loading themselves with additional responsibilities.

Imo, it is more that having children has often effect of isolating you quite a lot. It can get very lonely as a result as you miss adults around. You miss friends with common interests as your social group become exclusively those with same age children but not much in common otherwise.

It is not necessary that entertainment is so great.it is more that routine and isolation can be quite big.

TV is compatible with kids. But most social activities are nowdays are not.

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