Birth Rate Decline

QUICK LINKS:
- Departments
- Concerns and Issues

The birth rate of humanity across the world is dropping below replacement levels. This is steadily becoming a worldwide emergency and the longer it is not addressed, the longer the turn around will take. If this is not solved in the near future, there will be more elderly than there are children, which means most jobs of the younger generation will be focused on taking care of the elderly. There are many significant factors which are causing this decline, and they intertwine.

Abortions

Increased abortion access has made it easier to reduce the number of children born every year. While it is understandable that in some instances an abortion should not only be legal but encouraged, not every inconvenient pregnancy should be aborted. Which is why there should be federal laws defining the parameters for an abortion. Men and women should have self-autonomy, and while the bill of rights does not encompass every "right" a person has, when there are questions or concerns about a person's rights, that is the place those laws should be added. It is beyond time the federal government better defined self-autonomy for women and men in regards to abortions.

Economics

The lower salaries for the lower and middle class employees are a large reason for the reduced birthrate. Making less money at work means working multiple jobs. This means less time socializing, less energy at home, and a harder time meeting basic necessities as the price of homes, food, cars, etc continue to rise. All of this combine into a stressful life that equally makes childbearing more difficult. Therefore, raising wages, and lowering potential working hours (while maintaining those same higher wages) is a way to reduce this stress and open up more social possibilities. Likewise, there should be specific assistance available for those in need to maintain a family environment.

Women Empowerment

An increased access to education and labor market participation leads to a delay or limit to family sizes. Forcing women back into the home is not a viable option to solve this concern though. Education is an important tool for families, no matter the gender, and each family should choose for themselves how it is run provided there is no danger to anyone within the family unit. Using federal or state laws to force women backwards into only a mother role is an overreach of power, and is an attack on societies freedoms. It should also be noted that currently 58% of college undergraduates are women, which means the future intellectuals should not be reduced to a secondary, though important, societal role when they can assist culture in more diverse ways.