A recent report from the Social Trends Institute points to falling fertility rates -- not only in Japan and Western Europe, but also in China and the United States -- and warns that "nations wishing to enjoy robust long-term economic growth and viable welfare states must maintain sustainable fertility rates of at least two children per woman." In the United States, the Pew Research Center recently said that the birth rate appears to be falling when the economy suffers. If a slow economy curbs the birth rate, and low birth rates hurt the economy, it sounds like a downward spiral.
As Japanese, European, Chinese and American women have fewer children, is the global economy endangered? Or is that trend a healthy step toward balancing the population explosion in many developing nations?
Responses:
Strong Marriages and Economies
W. Bradford Wilcox, National Marriage Project
Seeking a Population Plateau
William Ryerson, Population Institute
How Immigration Can Help
Laurie DeRose, Maryland Population Research Center
Downsides of High Immigration
Jan C. Ting, Temple University
The 'Health Explosion'
Nicholas Eberstadt, American Enterprise Institute
A Better, Not Bigger, Economy
Philip Cafaro, Colorado State University
Focus on Education
Wolfgang Lutz, Wittgenstein Center for Demography and Global Human Capital