Catholic Ping
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Posted on 04/08/2010 6:56:47 AM PDT by NYer
.- The U.S. birthrate fell from 2007 to 2008 and is now below replacement rate. One population expert, noting that children are the “only future a country has,” warns that a scarcity of children condemns a country to stagnation, bankruptcy and eventually death.
The U.S. National Vital Statistics Report for April 2010 shows that the U.S. birthrate fell two percent from 2007 to 2008. It is a drop below the replacement fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman.
In 2008 there were 41.5 births per 1,000 teens aged 15 to 19, also a two percent drop. The report also indicates that more U.S. children are being born out of wedlock than ever before.
According to the Washington Post, an October survey by the Pew Research Center said that 14 percent of Americans ages 18 to 34 and eight percent of those aged 35 to 44 said they postponed having a child because of the recession.
CNA discussed the report in a Wednesday e-mail interview with Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute (PRI).
Asked whether the drop in births could be attributed to the economic downturn, he replied:
“Children are an expression of hope in the future. With the downturn in housing prices, and the upswing in the unemployment rate, it is not surprising that many couples decided to defer having children until the economic downturn had corrected itself. We will, I predict, see a bigger drop in the birthrate in 2009, when the unemployment rate closed in on 10 percent, 9.3 percent according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.”
He said birth rates have fallen in Europe and other developed countries, “for the same reason.”
CNA asked whether an increase in the abortion rate could have been a factor in the falling birth rate.
Mosher said “anecdotal evidence” suggests Americans are “increasingly aborting babies who were unfortunate enough to be conceived during this economic recession.”
He reported that more men and women are having themselves sterilized and contraceptive use is also up.
Asked about the broader consequences for a country below a replacement birth rate, Mosher commented:
“Look at present-day Greece, which is going over a demographic cliff because of a scarcity of children. Too few young people are entering the work force to replace retiring workers, entitlement spending is increasing at the same time that tax revenues are leveling off, and the government is technically bankrupt.
“Children are the only future a country has, and countries that fail to provide for the future in the most fundamental way--by providing the future generation--are condemned to stagnation, bankruptcy, and death.”
Catholic Ping
Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
Zero can fix that real easy. Allow more muslims in.
Looks like it’s going to take a little longer to pay off the national debt.
Maybe if we didn’t abort so many kids...things wouldn’t be so out of whack...
We’re doing our share!
And so are most of the families at our church.
Perhaps if taxes were lower then people who need to work for a living could afford to have more children. I’ll bet that the birthrate among illegals and other people on the dole is sky-high.
Along with not aborting kids,
STOP DENIGRATING MARRIAGE.
Thank god the new Health Care bill pays for abortions... </sarc>
But we’re continually being told that we have an OVERpopulation problem. So which is it?
This is like the global warming thing, isn’t it. If it’s too hot, it must be global warming. If it’s too cold, it must be global warming. Where’s Goldilocks when we need her?!
More illegals are needed fast.
this will not sit well with those screaming for population control.....
I'm sure that when added in, the "replacement" rate will be fine.
Those “screaming for population control” are
actually “screaming for white/Euroethnic population control”.
LOL. We bring in 1.2 million legal immigrants a year. Population decline is the least of our worries.
Indeed - people do not have babies if they don’t have hope.
Hope comes from faith and family. Attack both and you turn into Eastern Europe.
silly folks since most treehuggers resemble that description ;)
..........Or Mexicans.
.
The only people having children now are those willing to see their progeny enslaved.
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