"...one in twenty women in Japan in 1974 were childless. Moreover, Shaw found that this ratio had increased to one in four by 1977."
That must be a typo.
"...one in thirty women were childless in Italy in 1974. According to Shaw, the rate of childlessness also skyrocketed there by 1977, reaching one in five women..."
Was there a war I wasn't told about? Assuming a complete replacement of women didn't happen in three years, where did all the childless women come from? All those women with children either ceased to exist, or all their kids died, in three years. That just makes no sense.
Thanks!
Hi thanks for your response. These figures came from the documentary Birthgap by Shaw. I think it needs to be read that the number correlates to women having babies. So it doesn't extend to women who have already had children. Hope that makes a little sense?
It does not make more sense no matter how I imagine it to refer to women. Once a woman has given birth to a child she is no longer childless. I cannot imagine any way of counting women to arrive at such dramatic changes in numbers of childless women in only three years.
It's a ratio of women who have had children to women that have not had children.
Then it isn't a ratio of women who have had children to women that have not, which is what it is described as.
Something is inexplicable about that number.
You know I've thought about what you wrote and I think you make a good point and I'm confused now as well!