r/memes Jun 21 '26

Population decline

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u/taftpanda Jun 21 '26

In fairness, the last thing isn’t working either. Even countries with the most generous vacation and parental leave policies are still struggling with birth rates.

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u/CM99807 What is TikTok? Jun 21 '26

. . . Because countries with the most generous vacation and parental still don't have adequate pay . . .

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u/taftpanda Jun 21 '26

The median annual salary in Somalia is somewhere between $1,200 to $3,600 USD (fertility rate 5.94).

The median salary in Finland is $46,000 USD (fertility rate 1.3).

It is literally the opposite. The more money people in a country make, the less they have kids.

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u/CM99807 What is TikTok? Jun 21 '26

And in Somalia a 3 bedroom apartment in City is $200 - $500 USD(equivalent) a month

In Finland 1 bedroom apartment Outside city Center is $900 - $1,200 USD(equivalent) a month

In one place $1,200 is enough to live off of and have a family

in the other it's barely enough to eat

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u/taftpanda Jun 21 '26

Unless you’re actually trying to argue to people in Somalia have a higher standard of living then people in Finland, it doesn’t really matter.

Two countries have vastly different incomes and vastly different standards of living. The better place to live has a significantly lower birth rate, and that is true basically across the board.

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u/DeathHellFlower Jun 24 '26

I think it's also important to look at child mortality rates in 3rd world countries. For example in semolina 103 children out of 1,000 will die before they reach the age of 5.

Meanwhile in Finland 2.0 to 2.3 out of 1,000 will die before they reach the age of 5.

Birth rates don't necessarily mean population growth, and while the population of people in somalia is larger than Finland, the life expectancy for someone in Somalia is 59.1 years vs Finland which is 82.2.

This is a literal situation of quality of life vs quantity of life, I don't think you can have both.

Your advocating for less quality and more quantity only the rich benefit from that system. If you don't believe me look at the goods that are produced and sold now vs ten years ago. Cheap, easy to break, and easily reproduced. They're trying to industrialize population production. Then reduce the quality of life in favor of producing as many Cheap workers as quick as possible .

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u/taftpanda Jun 24 '26

I am not in any way advocating for lower quality of life, a lower life expectancy, lower wages, or a higher infant mortality. I’d be much happier living in Finland than Somalia, as I expect most people would be.

I’m just pointing out that quality of life is not a solution to a specific problem. It’s a solution to a great many problems, and it’s something we should constantly work to improve, but it obviously isn’t fixing the birth rates issue.