Another explanation for the falling birth rate describes children as analogous to consumer goods (so that having a child is like buying a car). According to this explanation, parents give birth to children to provide domestic bliss, and they "altruistically" "include the happiness of the child as part of their own happiness."
這些解釋都各有不同實證研究支持，此處無意論斷何種較符合台灣的情況，而是希望提醒吾人，應該透過對台灣現況進行更嚴謹的研究，仔細分析生育率下降的箇中原因與可能趨勢，才能設計出真正有效的公共政策。