Reddit reviews The Empty Cradle: How Falling Birthrates Threaten World Prosperity And What To Do About It

There are plenty of negative effects from a shrinking population. See The Empty Cradle: How Falling Birthrates Threaten World Prosperity And What To Do About It

Basically, a shrinking population overwhelms any services provided to the elderly, such as social security and medicare. Essentially the young people don't bring in enough tax revenue to support the older people.

This isn't linked to abortion per se, but it is linked to equality; women who are educated and have access to contraception and who work delay childbearing and ultimately have fewer children. A worry about a shrinking population is why in some countries, such as France, they literally pay you salary for having a kid. Unfortunately it doesn't work terribly well.

No, I dont contradict myself. Where did you get that from? I argue that a nativity decline is good for us and that we need to adapt to that reality instead of trying to inflate our numbers. How is that contradictionary?

​

You don´t read or listen to media? We are bombarded with articles about the horrors created by lower birth rates, often accompanied by demands for more immigration from third world countries.

​

Here are a very few examples. The very first ones of a bazilion when you google the subject.

​

https://www.amazon.com/Empty-Cradle-Birthrates-Threaten-Prosperity/dp/0465050506

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-finland-population/record-low-birth-rate-threatens-finlands-welfare-system-finance-minister-idUSKCN1NY1RP

https://blog.euromonitor.com/falling-birth-rates-threaten-long-term-economic-growth-key-developed-cities/

https://www.businessinsider.com/dropping-fertility-rates-will-affect-the-economy-2016-11?r=US&IR=T

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/02/19/problems-falling-birth-rate/1931437/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dropping-birth-rates-threaten-global-economic-growth/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/23/baby-crisis-europe-brink-depopulation-disaster

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-14/humans-having-fewer-babies-is-a-big-economic-problem-quicktake

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/social-security-medicare-birth-rate-32-year-low

Good article!

The author, Phillip Longman, also wrote the highly pro-natalist book "The Empty Cradle"... and is featured in the pro-natalist movie "Demographic Winter"

Hmm, apparently reddit has a bug, the article is from the 1970s, from back before when everyone figured out that birthrates are falling.