The following three paragraphs discuss the three explanations | BM | IELTS 9.0

The following three paragraphs discuss the three explanations for falling birthrates in some parts of the world like China and the USA. You can learn a lot about paragraphing and idea development for your IELTS writing test.

There are a few related explanations for what is going on. The first is a gender story: As women gain more opportunities outside the home and become more likely to pursue careers, that leaves less time for parenting, making it difficult to have more than one or two children.
Many government programs that offer paid parental leave and subsidized child care are designed to ease the gender trade-off between work and parenting. Sweden’s parental leave policy incentivizes fathers to take time off, and encourages men to take on a greater share of parenting duties.
The second explanation for falling birthrates is similar: Because modern life is so expensive, particularly in the urban areas where well-paid jobs tend to be, families can’t get by on one income. If both parents work, they’re less likely to have time to care for multiple children. Having another child could then force one parent out of the work force, with a catastrophic effect on the family finances.
The third explanation, which tends to get a little less attention, is the rise of “intensive parenting,” in which parents invest huge amounts of time and money into their children in order to set them up for success in a brutally competitive world. In that view, it’s children themselves who are prohibitively expensive.