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Alice Evans

@alice-evans · 23 positions · 0 changes of mind

Senior lecturer in international development at King's College London, writing The Great Gender Divergence at ggd.world. She compares why men's and women's lives are converging in some societies and diverging in others, mixing survey data with her own interviews across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Alice Evans did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

  1. Our reading

    Once women control their own fertility they have children only when they expect a reward for it, so the case for parenthood has to compete with everything else on offer.

    Their wordsOnce women are in control of their fertility, they only procreate if they expect rewards - whether that is personal fulfillment or social approval.

    ↗How do we Boost Birth Rates?ggd.world 1st of 6 in this piece

    Interesting

  3. Our reading

    Improving entertainment technology raises the bar parenthood has to clear, because people have children when it looks more fun than the alternatives.

    Their wordsPeople are more likely to have kids if it’s FUN - relative to alternatives. As entertainment-technology improves, it generates a tantalising menu of ways to spend our lives.

    ↗How do we Boost Birth Rates?ggd.world 2nd of 6 in this piece

    Interesting

  5. Our reading

    Having children is contagious: people are more likely to become parents when the people around them already are.

    Their wordsCommunity comes into play. If everyone else has kids, this shifts expectations and creates club goods.

    ↗How do we Boost Birth Rates?ggd.world 3rd of 6 in this piece

    family

    Interesting

  7. Our reading

    Deliberately shifting a culture is far harder now that everyone can personalise their media and skip past anything they dislike.

    Their wordscultural engineering is extremely difficult in the 21st century: in this age of infinite personalisation, people can swipe past anything they dislike

    ↗How do we Boost Birth Rates?ggd.world 4th of 6 in this piece

    Interesting

  9. Our reading

    Money cannot make up for meeting a partner late, because the years in which a couple can have children have already gone.

    Their wordsEven if late 30s eventually find love, the reproductive window is much smaller. Cash incentives can’t trump biology.

    ↗How do we Boost Birth Rates?ggd.world 5th of 6 in this piece

    Interesting

  11. Our reading

    Culture can be changed, so falling birth rates are a fixable problem rather than a one-way ratchet of modernity.

    Their wordsMy qualitative research has taught me one thing: culture is malleable! So surely this issue is fixable!

    ↗How do we Boost Birth Rates?ggd.world 6th of 6 in this piece

    demographics

    Interesting
  12. 4 months earlier

  13. Our reading

    Marriage and birth rates are collapsing across the Middle East and North Africa even though religiosity there has not weakened.

    Their wordsThe Middle East, North Africa and Anatolia are witnessing a rapid decline in coupling and fertility. This should rock your priors.

    ↗Why are Marriage & Fertility Plummeting in MENA?ggd.world 1st of 4 in this piece

    demographics

    Interesting

  15. Our reading

    Where men and women are kept apart, couples form late because it is hard to find somebody you actually like.

    Their wordsWith few opportunities to mix and mingle, charm and bond, it’s difficult to find someone one actually likes.

    ↗Why are Marriage & Fertility Plummeting in MENA?ggd.world 2nd of 4 in this piece

    Interesting

  17. Our reading

    Marriage survives in South Asia because families arrange it and divorce is taboo, not because men and women mix more freely there.

    Their wordsThus, even if cross-gender friendships are few and far between, South Asian families still consolidate and preserve nuptials.

    ↗Why are Marriage & Fertility Plummeting in MENA?ggd.world 3rd of 4 in this piece

    Interesting

  19. Our reading

    Falling birth rates ended cousin marriage in the Arab world by leaving too few cousins, pushing marriage onto individual choice.

    Their wordsBut over the past 50 years, there has been a massive decline in fertility. This entails fewer cousins of a suitable age.

    ↗Why are Marriage & Fertility Plummeting in MENA?ggd.world 4th of 4 in this piece

    demographics

    Interesting
  20. 3 months earlier

  21. Our reading

    Where women's economic rise is too mild to resent, the far right turns its grievance politics onto immigration instead.

    Their wordsSince women did not pose an economic threat, far-right politicians have instead galvanised society-wide opposition to immigration.

    ↗Does Women’s Rise trigger Backlash?ggd.world 1st of 2 in this piece

    immigrationpolitics

    Interesting

  23. Our reading

    A backlash against women's economic rise is not automatic; it happens only where politicians choose to mobilise it.

    Their wordsSo even though women’s economic advancement did displace some men, and triggered some private hostility, it was never actually catapulted into social antagonism. This is primarily because it was never leveraged by political entrepreneurs!

    ↗Does Women’s Rise trigger Backlash?ggd.world 2nd of 2 in this piece

    Interesting
  24. 4 weeks earlier

  25. Our reading

    Japan's decades of stagnation were caused by its shrinking working-age population rather than by its monetary policy.

    Their wordsThe key difference wasn't policy - it was demographics. Japan's working-age population is shrinking.

    ↗Why is Fertility Collapsing, Globally?ggd.world 1st of 11 in this piece

    demographics

    Interesting

  27. Our reading

    Immigration cannot hold a rich country's working-age population steady, because doing so would require it to become 40 to 50 per cent foreign-born.

    Their wordsFor rich countries to maintain their working-age population ratios in 2050 through permanent migration (where each worker brings one dependent), Lant Pritchett estimates they would need to become 40-50% foreign-born.

    ↗Why is Fertility Collapsing, Globally?ggd.world 2nd of 11 in this piece

    immigration

    Interesting

  29. Our reading

    A multi-ethnic society only gets the benefits of diversity if it deliberately builds a shared national identity.

    Their wordsHowever, productive collaborations are not inevitable. Just look at ethnic violence in South-East Asia or Hindu Nationalism in India. Nation-building is really valuable, learning from multi-ethnic, democratic Indonesia.

    ↗Why is Fertility Collapsing, Globally?ggd.world 3rd of 11 in this piece

    Interesting

  31. Our reading

    As every population ages, countries will have to compete for migrants rather than choose freely among them.

    Their wordsOne more word of caution: the world is a closed and shrinking box. As all populations age, competition for talent will only intensify.

    ↗Why is Fertility Collapsing, Globally?ggd.world 4th of 11 in this piece

    immigration

    Interesting

  33. Our reading

    Europe is losing the competition for talented migrants because it is not an attractive enough destination.

    Their wordsEurope’s real problem is that we are not a competitive destination.

    ↗Why is Fertility Collapsing, Globally?ggd.world 5th of 11 in this piece

    immigrationEurope

    Interesting

  35. Our reading

    Any theory of the fall in birth rates must explain both the worldwide collapse and the differences between countries, and most theories explain only one.

    Their wordsIt must explain both the global collapse and local variation.

    ↗Why is Fertility Collapsing, Globally?ggd.world 6th of 11 in this piece

    demographics

    Interesting

  37. Our reading

    Rising female autonomy cannot be the cause of falling birth rates, because births have collapsed just as fast in countries where women's freedom is heavily restricted.

    Their wordsNicolas Eberstadt speculates that it’s all about rising autonomy. But that can’t explain why fertility has also plummeted in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and India, where women are often heavily restricted.

    ↗Why is Fertility Collapsing, Globally?ggd.world 7th of 11 in this piece

    demographics

    Interesting

  39. Our reading

    Government payments and benefits aimed at raising birth rates do not reverse the decline.

    Their wordsAcross the OECD, governments are upping their spending. But a wealth of research suggests these fail to mitigate the downward trend.

    ↗Why is Fertility Collapsing, Globally?ggd.world 8th of 11 in this piece

    governmentdemographics

    Interesting

  41. Our reading

    Something is broken in how people pair up in the West, and that shortage of couples and marriages, not money, is why there are too few children.

    Their wordsFrom the 1960s, US fertility fell primarily due to fewer births among couples. In that context, baby bonuses might raise fertility. But today, the major contributing factor is the decline of coupling.

    ↗Why is Fertility Collapsing, Globally?ggd.world 9th of 11 in this piece

    demographics

    Interesting

  43. Our reading

    The fall in childbearing in rich countries is concentrated among the less educated, not among female graduates.

    Their wordsSlurs of ‘childless cat ladies’ usually target female graduates, but in the US, Sweden and Finland the real decline is happening among people with less education.

    ↗Why is Fertility Collapsing, Globally?ggd.world 10th of 11 in this piece

    Interesting

  45. Our reading

    Personalised online entertainment has got good enough to crowd out socialising, and with it the forming of couples.

    Their wordsMy suspicion is that massive improvement in quality of online entertainment crowd out socialising and development of social skills, possibly hurting relationship formation as well as desire for children within marriage.

    ↗Why is Fertility Collapsing, Globally?ggd.world 11th of 11 in this piece

    Interesting