First, rich westerners have kids late, and EA is young—people having a child in their mid-to-late 30s isn’t uncommon.
Second, the EAs I know with kids don’t necessarily talk about them, especially in EA circles. so your sample that implies there are very few EAs with kids is probably skewed. (Edit to add: 6% of SSC survey respondents have more than 2 kids. Another 10% have 2, and a further 7.5% have 1. And the average age of respondents is 33 - per the survey, more than half of people over 40 have a kid, and 10% of those in their 30s do.)
If SSC survey respondents were a good proxy for EA community then that seems to indicate EAs are having significantly fewer kids than the average American.
But the question isn’t well defined, what is “so few?”. If it means “basically none” then David’s probably right. If it means “less than the average American” then probably. If it means “less than an average white westerner of similar education and income” then I don’t know.
Mostly agree—based on the post, I was thinking of “so few” as “basically none,” but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it were less than average for the comparable group.
And I don’t think SSC is anything like a perfect proxy, and I assume it somewhat over-represents people who are less involved in rationality/EA, and are more likely to have kids, but it’s the closest proxy I could easily find.
Maybe you’re wrong, a two-part answer.
First, rich westerners have kids late, and EA is young—people having a child in their mid-to-late 30s isn’t uncommon.
Second, the EAs I know with kids don’t necessarily talk about them, especially in EA circles. so your sample that implies there are very few EAs with kids is probably skewed. (Edit to add: 6% of SSC survey respondents have more than 2 kids. Another 10% have 2, and a further 7.5% have 1. And the average age of respondents is 33 - per the survey, more than half of people over 40 have a kid, and 10% of those in their 30s do.)
If SSC survey respondents were a good proxy for EA community then that seems to indicate EAs are having significantly fewer kids than the average American.
Not sure if this apples to apples but this source suggests that 85% of American women over 40 have had a kid.
But the question isn’t well defined, what is “so few?”. If it means “basically none” then David’s probably right. If it means “less than the average American” then probably. If it means “less than an average white westerner of similar education and income” then I don’t know.
Mostly agree—based on the post, I was thinking of “so few” as “basically none,” but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it were less than average for the comparable group.
And I don’t think SSC is anything like a perfect proxy, and I assume it somewhat over-represents people who are less involved in rationality/EA, and are more likely to have kids, but it’s the closest proxy I could easily find.