New findings suggest the American tendency to “Keep up with the Jonses” is pushing down childbirth rates. Paul Hooper, an anthropologist at Emory University, has developed a mathematical model to stimulate the effect growth of striving for material goods has on fertility. He says, “Our model shows that as competition becomes more focused on social climbing, as opposed to just putting food on the table, people invest more in material goods and achieving social statues, and that affects how many children they have.” Additionally, other factors like lower child mortality rates, more access to birth control, and the choice to delay childbirth to get a higher education are also associated with declining fertility. Hooper adds, “Evolution didn’t necessarily train us very well for the almost infinite size of our communities, the anonymity of many of our interactions and the vast number of goods that we can use to signal our status. Our evolved pyschology may be misfiring and causing us to over-invest in social standing.”
