The Guardian view on falling birthrates: cash alone cannot buy belonging | Editorial

The useful part

Singapore's leaders, worried about population collapse, have reached for the chequebook. Each child, including those born to unmarried parents, will get $55,000 in government support by the time they turn 17. In some poor sub-Saharan African countries there are around six births per woman.

How it works

• More than half of the world – including a billion women in India and China – have a fertility rate below the global 2.1 " replacement level " needed to sustain populations without migration.
• Even in poor countries with high mortality rates and consequently higher replacement rates, births outpace deaths.

Details worth keeping

Young people still want partners and children. In 2000, its fertility rate matched America's at 1.6 children per woman. By 2025, it had dropped to 0.87 – almost half the US rate.