The decline in fertility and birth rates in relation to risk and mortality are due to the fact that parents are now having fewer children because they have more hope that their children will survive into adulthood. In years gone by, as mortality rates were high and labour was more in agriculture, more offspring were had to assist with the workload, and with high infant mortality rates, more children meant more reliability to support the family as a whole. This combined with economic and cultural perspectives are also slowing the birthrate.