A population's standard of living has a special and important place in the concept of human development. Ultimately, the higher the standard of living of a population, the greater the chance for real human development, other things being equal. The standard of living in its most general sense is...

For more than a hundred years, advances in development were associated with decreasing fertility rates. This led to total fertility rates far below replacement level in most developed countries. However, during the last decade fertility rates started to increase again in various developed...