A downward fertility trend is occurring on the global front: women aren’t having enough children. Recent statistics place the Italian fertility rate at just 1.3, whereas the replacement rate is usually considered to be 2.1 children per couple.
Furthermore, 50% of Japanese women born in the 1970s are childless and many European countries face a 20% rate of childlessness in women in their 40s.
Some people may argue that the world population is out of control and that lower fertility is a good thing.
However, given the expansive socialist economic systems that control much of the free world, a population crunch could be devastating to maintaining healthy economies.
Mark Steyn recently wrote a piece in the National Review outlining the problems we face with a worldwide decrease in fertility.
His theory is that a decreased fertility rate will lead to the eventual collapse of social welfare. Most welfare systems rely on the young generations to support the medical and retirement costs of the older generations. Unfortunately, a system based on this pyramid scheme cannot be sustained if the older generations doesn’t replace its population.
Greece is a prime example of this effect where 100 grandparents have 42 grandchildren.
Given this bleak fertility outlook, many countries have implemented rewards, usually in the form of tax breaks, to promote procreation. However, results are usually minimal.
Of course, people have a right to make their own reproductive choices. But Chris & Wendy Jeub think the choice might be in flawed thinking. People who have children remember childlessness; the childless, however, don’t recall the alternative life with children.
Article: 27th March 2012 www.eivf.net
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