Half of the kids used to die.

Across societies with very different climates, cultures, and forms of governance, half of children died before the age of 15. People tried to stop children from dying, and they just failed.

Things are much much better now. Worldwide childhood mortality is now 4%. In Niger it’s the worst, and it’s still only 15%.

15% of children dying is awful, but it’s way less awful than 48%. Prior to 1800, any country that achieved a child mortality rate of 15% would be seen as the absolute pinnacle of good governance and public health.

Half of children used to die, and now they don’t. If you were making a list today of the top 10 most important facts about the world, this would definitely be in it.

Previous generations have worked hard, and given us the gift of a world where only one in twenty-five children die.

It’s still too many! It’s up to us to give future generations a world where less than 0.5% of children die. It’s possible! It’s already the case in Finland, Norway, Japan, and Slovenia.

If you find yourself thinking that modern life is terrible, just remember that half of children used to die.

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This post is essentially just my reflections on this much better post from Our World in Data.