What is the Easterlin Theory?

Question

i was just wondering if anyone could translate the overcomplicated explinations that are on the internet becuase i really don't understand the Easterlin Theory and how it relates to the post WWII baby boom in Canada.

Answer 1

Basically it is saying the increasing number of young adults, as
evidenced by the BabyBoom causes downward pressure on a young man's relative wages, meaning the man has to choose
between his own wellbeing and family size. I think it's basically
saying he has to choose between a higher standard of living,
and having kids. This caused fertility rates to fall, because what
is considered acceptable in terms of family size began to change within society. It has as much to do with change in social acceptance, as well as economic conditions.

Answer 2

Easterlin Models
Richard Easterlin is an economist and professor of economics who has researched and published much literature on economic growth in the United States. In one of Richard Easterlin’s articles, published in 2000, titled, Twentieth Century American Population Growth, he explains the growth pattern of American population in the twentieth century by examining the fertility rate fluctuations and the decreasing mortality rate. In his article, Easterlin attempts to prove the cause of the Baby Boom and Baby Bust by the “relative income” theory, despite the various other theories that these events have been attributed to. The “relative income” theory suggests that couples choose to have children based on a couple’s ratio of potential earning power and the desire to obtain material objects. This ratio depends on the economic stability of country and how people are raised to value material objects. The “relative income” theory explains the Baby Boom by suggesting that the late 1940s and 1950s brought low desires to have material objects, because of the Great Depression and WWII, as well as huge job opportunities, because of being a post war period. These two factors gave rise to a high relative income, which encouraged high fertility. Following this period, the next generation had a greater desire for material objects, however, an economic slowdown in the United States, made jobs harder to acquire. This resulted in lower fertility rates causing the Baby Bust.