How would you imagine a typical Muslim family? A god-fearing husband, an uneducated wife (or wives), and lots and lots of children breaking out the door and spilling onto the streets? That, however, is not what a typical Muslim family does or is going to look like in the years ahead.
New research shows a historically unprecedented decline in fertility rates or the number of births, among Muslim women worldwide. In Muslim-majority countries, such as in the Middle East, the decline has already brought them on par with the ageing West. Chances are that fertility rates would fall further.
The trend has grave implications. One, the working age population in Muslim societies is going to shrink as fewer children are born, leaving them with a problem similar to that faced by the West. Two, while the West has already achieved high levels of education, development and family income, most Muslim countries in Asia and Africa face demographic stagnation even as they remain largely uneducated, underdeveloped and with extremely low family incomes.
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