Global downturn triggers baby boom - Hong Kong sees rise in births

Hong Kong has seen a spike in births this year... But it's not just that territory. Do you remember the country that went bankrupt? Iceland has also seen a rise in births...

http://www.guardian....-boom-recession

So what's going on? Is the traditional 'first world' heading towards third world status and having as many kids as they can to support them into old age?... Or are people just staying at home (jobless) and getting 'on the job' for lack of things to do/living off love?

Interesting trend. I wonder if we'll be seeing aid packages from Bangladesh in the coming years, to help London tidal flood victims and combat chronic overpopulation in the UK?... HELP US BANGLADESH!...

Viry stronge indood!




I'd be interested in a more rigorous analysis of the figures. Iceland and Hong Kong would be pretty much ethnically homogeneous, but are there other countries that are ethnically diverse (such as Australia and the You Ass) where this is occuring? (There are fears that "Muslims" and "Hispanics" will outbreed the "proper" citizens in certain countries. Palestinians in Israel are out-competing the Jews in the birthing stakes, which is apparently a cause of concern if you're a fourby over there. There was a link from one of the sites in another forum post that had that as another link. I'll try and dig it up if anyone's interested.)

Is there any breakdown as to which social demographic that is breeding more than the others? Working versus middle versus upper classes. Well educated versus poorly educated. And so on.

Singapore and Australia (and, I think, Japan) are just a couple of countries that were offering government handouts for people to produce more babies.

And to what level of "failure" during the GFC does this have an effect? There was a joke (not really a joke) going around the Emerald Isle at the end of 2008 that the only differences between Ireland and Iceland was one letter and six months.

Well, sex is a form of self medicating/therapy for depression.

It might be just because they are on welfare of some sort now and, unlike when you are working, you get a pay rise when you have children on welfare. The West is certainly going down the crapper economically as well as in every other way. New Zealand arguably should have already lost its developed status. When you think of the damage done by feminism, affirmative action and so on it is amazing the West has struggled on for as long as it has.

Cornfed, on 22 December 2009 - 01:49 PM, said:

Developed status, perhaps not. Sanity definitely.

That whole anti-smacking legislation is a departure from reality...

Maybe the 10 to 15% of the K1w1 population that live on the other side of the Tasman Sea have something. Unfortunately for those left at home that only serves to increase the already suspiciously high inbreeding coefficient!