I'm currently mired in biology and I think an interesting point can be made. We talk of 2 types of reproducers: R and K[0]. R is cockroaches; have just thousands of babies. K is Blue Whales; have 1 or 2 and nurture the hell out of them.
It seems that in the 1800s, we were more R type than we are today. We had lots of children (though not thousands) and weren't all that concerned with education, welfare, or health as to each one. At least in comparison to today.
Now, we seem to be much more K type. We take care of our children to an incredible degree. Mortality is very anomalous in child birth, it is rare in the 1st world to encounter an illiterate person, all but the true wackos get vaccines, etc. As a consequence, it takes a lot of time and resources to raise a child. Heck, we are even talking about the 20's being years of 'extended adolescence'[1]. I don't know if this is a mistake of correlations and causation, but they sure do seem linked.
It seems that in the 1800s, we were more R type than we are today. We had lots of children (though not thousands) and weren't all that concerned with education, welfare, or health as to each one. At least in comparison to today.
Now, we seem to be much more K type. We take care of our children to an incredible degree. Mortality is very anomalous in child birth, it is rare in the 1st world to encounter an illiterate person, all but the true wackos get vaccines, etc. As a consequence, it takes a lot of time and resources to raise a child. Heck, we are even talking about the 20's being years of 'extended adolescence'[1]. I don't know if this is a mistake of correlations and causation, but they sure do seem linked.
http://www.gapminder.org/
Hans Rosling's TED talks are just so good here for extra material too.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R/K_selection_theory
[1] http://www.primermagazine.com/2013/live/wasting-your-20s-wit...