[rayiner]

This is a good example of culture acting in often invisible ways--a force that you don't notice at work until it's gone. There's a lot we assume to be universal about human behavior that's actually the product of cultural forces transmitted through generations.

My dad spent his career on maternal health and family planning issues. He's in the group of folks that's the reason that Bangladesh's fertility rate has fallen from almost 7 per women in 1975 to just over 2 today. There was a generational effort in Asia to basically change the culture to discourage having large families. The notion that national prosperity is associated with population control was deeply impressed upon Asians--to the point where my dad thought it a little weird when my wife and I decided to have three kids. I suspect that's part of the reason why fertility rates in east asian countries have dropped not only below replacement rates, but down to under 1 in several countries.