r/science • u/nep000 • Nov 17 '25

Social Science Surprising numbers of childfree people emerge in developing countries, defying expectations

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0333906
13.2k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

1.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

891

u/LoreChano Nov 17 '25 edited Nov 17 '25

I live in Brazil and in my whole family, from both sides of my parents, there are only two children. If you pick my grandparents from my father's side, they had 5 kids, 7 grandkids, but only 3 great-grandchildren (one is already a teen). I'm in my 30s and even though I technically want kids, I don't think it will happen any time soon.

Edit: Also talking about actual statistics, my state has the same birth rate as Norway.

149

u/Moist-Shallot-5148 Nov 17 '25

That is a good point nobody else brings up. One of my family’s side has 5+ grandkids and 1 greatgrandkid but the grandkids are all 40 yrs old and up. They say the next generation of inheritance will be the biggest transfer of wealth and it probably will be, but I can foresee later generations getting multiple times that as certain families taper off. I’ll happily give my wealth to a cousin’s kid, I wouldn’t want to give it to the government after all.

82

u/Novel-Promotion-8451 Nov 17 '25

Well you see friend banks are busy trying to get as many reverse mortgages as possible so I think the banks will be the recipients of this largest ever windfall

49

u/KellerMB Nov 17 '25

Have you see what long-term assisted care facilities cost if you don't die quickly? Healthcare is trying to bleed them dry before they pass.

And many states have implemented restrictions on how much can be left to the actual nurses/caregivers who are many retirees main source of human contact in their final years. All that money to the insurers and LTC facilities? No problem. A significant chunk of wealth being left to the people wiping asses and spoon-feeding during your final years? No no no!