Falling birth rates

[Bayleaf]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c72p2vgd21no

I find this fascinating, that in an already way overcrowded world, there are concerns that not enough babies are being born! Add to that the current "climate", and let's face it, who'd want to even bring a child into this mess?

Why does keeping birth rates of an average of 2.1 to 2.4 children PER woman matter so much? To keep the economy going? To have enough minions to keep the wheels grinding along for the sake of the elite? That's how it sounds to me!

There are not enough jobs for everyone, especially as the retirement age keeps going up. There's not enough housing for everyone, there's not enough "safe" places for people to take refuge from war and extreme weather. There won't be enough food if meat is frowned upon.

So, I don't get it - surely less humans on the planet that we just use, and abuse, is a good thing.

Monday rant over!

[Hotrodder]

You dare to speak the truth. Keep your head down.
I decided at the age of 23 to opt out of the population explosion. Never had a single regret.

[Lori]

Oh I agree Bayleaf. There are already far too many of us on the planet.

We are already experiencing various food shortages. And many of us do not and will not have access to medical care. Many medications are now on short supply or on wait lists.

I have said to OH, more than a few times, I would not want to bring a child into this World now. I already fear for the future of my own child.

The World is being run by madmen and I fear this year may add another one to the mix. And if it does, the craziness is going to get worse.

[Wilbro]

well the logic is explained in the article but one glaring ommission is to provide people to fight and die for their country. that was a major concern of France in their 20th Century face offs with Germany.

[Bayleaf]

I already fear for the future of my own child.

Ditto! Husband and I thought even 24 ish years ago that should we really be bringing children into a changing-for-the-worse world. I sometimes wish we'd listened to our heads and not our hearts. I've come close to apologising to my children for their existence, as everything seemed so simple when we were their age. What a terrible thought to have.

I see part of the article touches on enough younger workforce to keep paying into the pot to provide pension money for the retired population, but as more and more jobs are automated and done by AI, who's going to be making all the necessary contributions then?

I guess that's why the retirement age will continue to increase, so more people will probably die before they qualify for their pension. Be still my scathing tongue!

[Doug]

Agree, to many fn up the planet, always have said that we should only replace ourself, which is why I had the chop at the age of 27 after two children, never regretted it at all even though the Dr and surgeon tried to talk me out of it at the time.
What's this about the young paying for our oap? If so where did all of the money go which we paid when we were working, much harder than they do these days to boot.
Will now put the soapbox away.

[DominicBest]

If so where did all of the money go which we paid when we were working

It went to pay the pensions of the pensioners at the time.
It’s not a new concept, when I moved to Germany in 1986 there were posters everywhere stating that 1+1=3, a campaign to encourage young couples to start families.

[Blaze]

As Dominic Best says, what we paid in paid for pensions at the time just as what people are paying in today pays for ours.

One of the reasons for the drop in birth rates, certainly among better educated folk in the world, is choosing a career or a life without children. Perhaps today there are fewer pressures from family and it is less of a foregone conclusion that when you are with someone that having children are part of that.

[exile]

Just to throw a hand grenade into the original discussion about birth rates and following on from @DominicBest's 1+1=3 post, by the noughties it was being reported in the German press that by the end of this century, that German heritage would be in danger. By then it was estimated there would be more non-ethnic Germans than ethic Germans. Birth rates for ethnic Germans had fallen to IIRC 1.6 whereas those for non-ethnic Germans (then mainly former Yugoslavs and Turks) was up above 2.5.
I make no comment or judgement but:
Does that matter?
Is heritage something to be proud of and to be preserved?

Discuss - if you wish

[DominicBest]

I had an American friend who, back in the ‘80s was worried about the effect that differing birth rates were going to have on the language spoken in the USA. He quoted huge differences in the birth rates between US citizens with South American roots and ‘white’ Americans. He was sure that by early in the 21st Century there would more Spanish being spoken in the US than English. As far as I’m aware that has often been the case in some parts of the south but the spread he feared has not happened.
Strangely when I went on a bus from Seattle airport into the city centre although I was surprised to hear virtually no English spoken I heard no Spanish whatsoever. Most of the voices seemed to be East European or Asian.