Posted on 06/01/2007 11:27:39 PM PDT by Sleeping Beauty
What causes low birth rates? I have debated this issue at some length with blogger Conservative Swede. Among the reasons frequently cited are the welfare state, feminism and secularism. However, if you look closely at the statistics from various countries, the picture gets quite complex, and there doesn’t appear to be an automatic correlation between low birth rates and any one of these factors.
The United States has the highest birth rates in the West, but this is largely due to ethnic minorities. If you compare white Americans to white Europeans, the American birth rate is somewhat higher than those of the Scandinavian nanny states, but still lower than replacement level. Scandinavian countries such as Norway and Sweden do have elaborate welfare states, high degrees of feminism and are not very religious, yet have some of the highest birth rates in the Western world (though still below replacement level.) They are certainly much higher than those in Catholic Poland, perhaps the most conservative religious country in Europe. And they are much higher than those of South Korea, which has more traditional sex roles and where Christianity is booming these days.
The gap between the Western world and the Islamic world in birth rates is clearly caused by religious factors, but the differences between industrialized nations are far more difficult to explain. If the cause is not welfarism, feminism or secularism, then what is it?
My favorite is this reason: “... I would then have him trace the process of our moral decline, to watch, first, the sinking of the foundations of morality as the old teaching was allowed to lapse, then the rapidly increasing disintegration, then the final collapse of the whole edifice, and the dark dawning of our modern day when we can neither endure our vices nor face the remedies needed to cure them.....of late years wealth has made us greedy, and self-indulgence has brought us, through every form of sensual excess, to be, if I may so put it, in love with death both individual and collective...” TITUS LIVIUS 59 B.C. TO 17 A.D.
Bravo, your tagline.
Thanks for speaking up for the ladies! On threads like this, there are far too many male Freepers who blame women for everything. They sound exactly like Feminazis in reverse.
Ugly women.
Want me to breed? I need a Playboy Playmate, stat.
Take the Hillary Clinton/Janet Reno picture away from the side of the bed.
Ha! I like your’s, too.
What about loss of faith? It contributes to breakdown of our culture and society in many different ways and it’s not until we’re actually experiencing living in a culture which exhibits behaviors that would have been unheard of in the past that we realize that a lot has to do with not actually practicing religion. Judeo-Christian values watered down?
Since 1970, the population of the US has increased by 100 million; since 1990, by 53 million; and since 2000, by 20 million or the equivalent of our six largest cities. The Bureau of the Census projects that we will have 364 million by 2030, which translates into 63 million additional people in the next 23 years or the equivalent current population of the UK, and 420 million by 2050 with one-quarter of the population being Hispanic.
Thanks to you for hearing me! Don’t they though? He didn’t hear a word I said. I wonder what he considers housework and cooking and homework if not family? Sometimes, I just need five minutes-even if I don’t do anything but bang my head against a wall. Somehow my comments got turned into a lecture on men being head of household and the Garden of Eden being completely Eve’s fault. I love my husband and my kids but sometimes, it would be nice to be able to go to the bathroom and if I actually closed the door-(horror)-to not hear a voice or a bark on the other side saying “Mom?” Men have no clue. They get up in the morning, are responsible for no one but themselves. My husband used to drive me nuts-why do you have to yell so much in the am? Notice he’s not getting the kids up, or ready for school, or lunches, or homework. LOL! They just don’t get it!
You’re right, because the reason every baby announcement was a celebration was because we all truly believed that each baby was literally a gift from God. I still do!
Cause of low birthrate:
Children cost money.
Poor people have more children than rich people, that’s why they are poor.
In through the out hole and tongue-in-groove could have something to do with it.
Sadly, in today's world, the noble sacrifice and responsibility of parenthood is derided and mocked. Those who are "Married, With Children" are often viewed with pity and or amazement by others. They wonder why anyone would want to give up so much of their free time and money, just to bring more "curtain climbers" into the world.
It's the direct result of increased selfishness and the demand for immediate gratification. Neither of those two urges are well met by parenting. The deep, profound rewards of parenthood are often realized only after long, difficult struggles with frustration and other emotional ups and downs. To an increasing number of people, it's just not worth the personal cost.
When a society no longer reveres and honors sacrifice, patience, responsibility, wisdom, etc., then decreasing birth rates should be very much expected.
There was a great pic on freeper a few years ago-a newborn with a big bow tied around him. The gift tag said-From:God
When my kids were younger, they drove me batty! :) Now that I’ve got a grandkid, I’ve started thinking how nice it would have been to have more kids. LOL! I never would have survived more than the three I had. Of course, if we’d had more money, more kids wouldn’t have been such a problem.
Thanks for the Spengler quote. this is a bump to myself to read the book.
totally agree, and also love your tag line.
They may not be worth explaining. Do you have any idea whether thse differences are statistically significant? That should be your first question before pursuing further a tangent which may turn out to be a cul-de-sac.
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