New research indicates that older men who shack up with much younger women keep the grim reaper at bay for the human population and extend our species' lifespan!
In less developed, traditional societies, males are about 5 to 15 years older than their female partners. In the United States and Europe, guys are an average of two years senior to their partners.
More interesting, according to Jeanna Bryner of LiveScinece.com, when old men father children, their genes seem to increase the lifespan of both sexes over evolutionary time.
Even more encouraging has been the latest trend in Western fertility rates.
According to a recent NPR report, “The newest status symbol for the nation’s most affluent families is fast becoming a big brood of kids.”
SEE: http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070917/sc_livescience/maydecembercouplesboosthumanlifespan
In less developed, traditional societies, males are about 5 to 15 years older than their female partners. In the United States and Europe, guys are an average of two years senior to their partners.
More interesting, according to Jeanna Bryner of LiveScinece.com, when old men father children, their genes seem to increase the lifespan of both sexes over evolutionary time.
Even more encouraging has been the latest trend in Western fertility rates.
According to a recent NPR report, “The newest status symbol for the nation’s most affluent families is fast becoming a big brood of kids.”
SEE: http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070917/sc_livescience/maydecembercouplesboosthumanlifespan
According the always interesting George J. Borjas, “Historically, the country-club set has had the smallest number of kids. But in the past 10 years, the number of high-end earners who are having three or more kids has shot up nearly 30 percent.”
Some say the trend is driven by a generation of over-achieving career women who have quit work and transferred all of their competitive energy to baby making.
They call it “competitive birthing.”
I don’t know if the rise in the number of children among more affluent families is due to “competitive birthing” or not. But the data, and many anecdotal observations, clearly suggest that there’s something going on.
SEE: http://www.amren.com/mtnews/archives/2007/08/an_interesting.php
Whatever the reason, the more children the well-off and well-educated have and LESS those who are chronically poor have, the better for the future of this country.
