[extropy-chat] darfur EP

[BillK]

On 5/2/06, Keith Henson wrote:
<snip>
>
> Then why about 40 years ago did the Irish women suddenly cut the number of
> kids they had about in half?  Particularly why *then* and not ten or 20 or
> 40 years plus or minus?
>
> I appreciate the discussion and any insight anyone can bring to this subject.
>

Where did you get that figure from?
The Ireland CSO stats from 1950 onwards disagree.
<http://www.cso.ie/statistics/bthsdthsmarriages.htm>

They show a drop of 25% in 1990 and roughly level from then on.

Ireland used to be in the grip of the Roman Catholic Church which
banned birth control and encouraged large families. The weakening of
this control plus more availability of birth control methods plus
modern education and Irish economic growth would easily explain these
figures.

BillK