Stuart Gietel-Basten, a demography expert at the University of Oxford, said: "Starting a family and having children in China is really hard work?
Italy has a terrible combination: low birthrate, low women's employment and high risk of child poverty, said Alessandro Rosina, a professor of demography at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan.
Specialists in economics, demography and sociology say some of those women are delaying marriage to build careers and establish financial footing, resulting in a more empowered female population that no longer views marriage as the only route to security.
A demography scholar Huang Wenzheng from the University of Wisconsin considers it is impossible that China could still have a 1 billion population by the end of the century.
"Demography is a powerful force in development but it is not destiny," Mr O'Keefe said.
One simple tactic is what he refers to as live demography: a flight attendant standing in front of the cabin asking questions like "How many of you are going home?
A good part of the answer is demography, a factor that helps the U.
