TY  - JOUR
A1  - Mace, Ruth
T1  - When not to have another baby: An evolutionary approach to low fertility
Y1  - 2014/04/04
JF  - Demographic Research
JO  - Demographic Research
SN  - 1435-9871
SP  - 1074
EP  - 1096
DO  - 10.4054/DemRes.2014.30.37
VL  - S16
IS  - 37
UR  - https://www.demographic-research.org/special/16/37/
L1  - https://www.demographic-research.org/special/16/37/s16-37.pdf
L2  - https://www.demographic-research.org/special/16/37/s16-37.pdf
N2  - Background: In this paper, I explain the theoretical foundations of fertility from the perspective of evolutionary demography and evolutionary anthropology. 

Objective: My goal in this paper is to provide examples of how evolutionary demography is generating and testing new hypotheses about human fertility and parental behaviour. 

Methods: To illustrate the paradigm of low fertility, I present several evolutionary explanations for reduced fertility, or no fertility at all. The explanations I cite are drawn from studies on child maltreatment, homosexual preference, post-demographic transition low fertility, and late-life low fertility (menopause), as these are phenomena that appear to challenge evolutionary approaches. 

Conclusions: I find that the sophisticated tools of behavioural ecology and evolutionary anthropology and demography can do more than simply explain high fertility, and are currently being used to generate and test new hypotheses about fertility, including hypotheses that address the issue of low fertility. 

ER  -