Post: #1

Quote: Increased prosperity used to lead to a decline in the fertility rate as parents did not need children SDT-2013-05-fertility-education-01as an insurance policy for their old age; and indeed, the modern child is very expensive to bring up. But now better-off people seem to be having more children; in the U.S., the fertility rate of wives whose husbands are in the top decile of income is back where it was a century ago. Having a lot of children may be a sign of status – [BCA Research] dubs this the “Brangelina effect” – or it may be that better-off women can afford the childcare help (and increased housing space) that children necessitate.

http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/09/1...-children/

Post: #2

Encouraging. I thought it would be only the top 1% of rich wives who might be having more kids but according to Pew it's ALL college grads.

Post: #3

I noticed this too at my school, where most of the kids come from families in or fairly close to the top 1% by gross household income. There weren't many only children among them, and three children seemed to be the most common norm for their families. While the average white woman is managing to produce just 1 or 2 children, these mothers were making at least 3 on a regular basis and were far more likely to hit 4 or 5.

This is just one of the many ways in which you can see the existence of an American aristocracy, an elite core in which the trends plaguing most the population that we complain about don't really have an impact.

Concerned about low fertility? The elite are still having large families.

Concerned about high divorce rates and low marriage rates? The elite divorce at a lower rate and marry at a higher rate than everyone else.

Concerned about obesity? The elite don't have anywhere near the average obesity rate, with average BMI's closer to 1970s American or current European levels. Chalk that up to a better (and more expensive) diet and a greater focus on fitness.

Concerned about a lack of employment? The elite are finding jobs no problem, even straight out of school.

Concerned about a lack of money? The elite have recovered just fine from the crisis, even if many of them took big hits when it started.

Class matters. That's just the way of the world, especially in the USA.

For the record, FuturePundit had an article on this trend six years back and another in 2009. Interesting to see that its still ongoing.

Post: #4

These "aristocrats" are easy targets in a democracy. While the rest of the country burns there's going to be a lot of jealousy. Only a matter of time before they get screwed politically.

Post: #5

This is interesting. I've never bought into the Idiocracy prediction. It's more likely that we'll see a divergence between the top of the SES and the bottom of the SES evolving into separate populations with nothing in the middle.

Post: #6

When the welfare state collapses, dysgenics will go along with it (for the most part and primarily for blacks and whites). The only thing that can keep it going is continually allowing high #'s of illegals and low quality legal immigrants into the USA.