Should-Read: Max Roser: When will the world reach ‘peak child’?

Should-Read: Max Roser: When will the world reach ‘peak child’?: “The world has probably not reached ‘peak child’ yet…

…However, we are likely very close to a long flat peak; the number of children in the world will not increase much more. We are close to the peak…. The number of children in the long-run will depend on how successful the world will be in providing education–in particular to women–in the short-run. This is because women that are better educated tend to have fewer children. If we are successful in providing accessible education for all in the near-term, there will be fewer children–and therefore less demand for education–in the future…. How the size of the population will change in different world regions. Crucial will be the African continent: fast development in Africa will slow down population growth, whereas slow development would leave African countries in an extended period of fast population growth. The latter scenario could see the African population growing 5-fold over the 21st century…