In den am wenigsten entwickelten Ländern haben Familien aber teilweise deshalb so viele Kinder – durchschnittlich fünf pro Frau – weil man damit die hohen Kindersterblichkeitsraten ausgleichen will.
But households in the least-developed countries have many children – an average of five per woman – partly because fear of high childhood death rates leads them to overcompensate with large families.