Low Birth Rate Kills Economy, Society, New Film Shows

[chewchoo]

(CNSNews.com) -An extended adolescence that celebrates self-gratification at the expense of marriage and family is one of the main causes of the world’s self-effacing population decline, according to the new film, “Demographic Winter: The Decline of the Human Family.”

The soon-to-be-released hour-long documentary is filled with data and experts that contend that the erosion of the traditional family and rapidly declining birth rates are producing social and economic suicide on a global scale.

“Demographic Winter” refers to the low birth rates, particularly in Western countries. “When there aren’t enough young people to replace an aging population, we will experience economic collapse and social deterioration,” the film contends.

“Demographic Winter” was screened at the conservative Heritage Foundation on Tuesday, where panelists and audience members also discussed the film’s message.

Over the past few decades, it has become fashionable for young people, especially men, to put off marriage until later in life or to avoid it altogether, Kay Hymowitz, a scholar and noted author with the Manhattan Institute, explains in the film.

This is partly because women have become more career-minded and economically successful in recent years and are less inclined to have children as a result, she says. But there is also a certain unwillingness to enter adulthood and all its responsibilities that affects men disproportionately, Hymowitz argues.

complete article

 

[BioCatholic]

“The challenge now is to change hearts and minds back in favor of families without forcing anything on people and to ask how this can be done without becoming a theocracy.”

That article quote sums it ALL up right there.

People have the right to put off marriage for however long they choose. They have the right to have children, or not have children. Period. They can be as selfish as they want to be, because Society can never, ever require or force people to get married or have children. Even at its near collapse. Civilizations come and go. The US has risen, and it just might fall one day and become a mediocre country.

Who in their honest and right mind says “ill have children to help Society”?

If a woman or man wants to get married at 35-40 after having established a nice career, well Society just has to deal with it. If they don’t want children, Society has to deal with that too. Marriage and children are an INDIVIDUALS choice, and Society has no say whatsoever in that choice.

 

[SILVERNAME]

People have the right to put off marriage for however long they choose. They have the right to have children, or not have children. Period. They can be as selfish as they want to be, because Society can never, ever require or force people to get married or have children. Even at its near collapse. Civilizations come and go. The US has risen, and it just might fall one day and become a mediocre country.

Who in their honest and right mind says “ill have children to help Society”?

If a woman or man wants to get married at 35-40 after having established a nice career, well Society just has to deal with it. If they don’t want children, Society has to deal with that too. Marriage and children are an INDIVIDUALS choice, and Society has no say whatsoever in that choice.

True but you are deliberately ignoring the problem here, people in the past did not have such a mentality, that mentality is a result of all the anti-life anti-marriage anti-family policies and laws in the schools courts and in society in the past 40 to 50 years.

So if you want to get rid of such a mentality, you have to have pro-life pro-marriage pro-family laws and policies, and abolish all anti-lie anti-traditional marriage anti-traditional family laws and policies in the courts legislature schools etc.

For example, criminalization of fornication, co-habitation, contraception , abortion, pronography, adultery and homophilia, criminalizing all of these will help strengthen families and will help stop the i don’ want children mentality, and therefore the demographic winter problem.

It is these immoral acts which have resulted in the democraphic problem that we have now.

And don’t tell me people have a right to fornicate or commit adultery or homophilia, because they don’t, people don’t have a right to commit sexual immorality of any kind.

Another problem that is destroying the traditional family and causing the demographic winter is high taxes.

High taxes are bad for the traditional family , so the income tax has to be abolished, to strengthen the traditional family and prevent the demographic winter.

The Unites States used to have laws and policies that were pro-life pro-marriage and pro-family, and the U.S. certainly was no theocracy, it is very easy to implement laws and policies to change hearts and minds back in favor of families without becoming a theocracy, because its been done before.

 

[lubczyk]

True but you are deliberately ignoring the problem here, people in the past did not have such a mentality, that mentality is a result of all the anti-life anti-marriage anti-family policies and laws in the schools courts and in society in the past 40 to 50 years.

So if you want to get rid of such a mentality, you have to have pro-life pro-marriage pro-family laws and policies, and abolish all anti-lie anti-traditional marriage anti-traditional family laws and policies in the courts legislature schools etc.

For example, criminalization of fornication, co-habitation, contraception , abortion, pronography, adultery and homophilia, criminalizing all of these will help strengthen families and will help stop the i don’ want children mentality, and therefore the demographic winter problem.

It is these immoral acts which have resulted in the democraphic problem that we have now.

And don’t tell me people have a right to fornicate or commit adultery or homophilia, because they don’t, people don’t have a right to commit sexual immorality of any kind.

Another problem that is destroying the traditional family and causing the demographic winter is high taxes.

High taxes are bad for the traditional family , so the income tax has to be abolished, to strengthen the traditional family and prevent the demographic winter.

The Unites States used to have laws and policies that were pro-life pro-marriage and pro-family, and the U.S. certainly was no theocracy, it is very easy to implement laws and policies to change hearts and minds back in favor of families without becoming a theocracy, because its been done before.

How about the Vatican help out? Require Priests and Nuns to get married and have at least a dozen children or more. That would set a good example for the whole church community. Lead by example I say. If they don’t Priests and Nuns are apart of your so-called “demographic problem” since they don’t have children and don’t get married.

 

[rlg94086]

How about the Vatican help out? Require Priests and Nuns to get married and have at least a dozen children or more. That would set a good example for the whole church community. Lead by example I say. If they don’t Priests and Nuns are apart of your so-called “demographic problem” since they don’t have children and don’t get married.

Nonsense. The reason for the decline in priests is the exact same as the decline in birthrates - selfishness and consumerism. Married priests with kids are not going to help reverse the course; however, orthodoxy does help. We need to refocus Catholics on Church teaching, so that their lives don’t revolve around material possessions.

BioCatholic:

People have the right to put off marriage for however long they choose. They have the right to have children, or not have children. Period. They can be as selfish as they want to be, because Society can never, ever require or force people to get married or have children. Even at its near collapse. Civilizations come and go. The US has risen, and it just might fall one day and become a mediocre country.

Who in their honest and right mind says “ill have children to help Society”?

If a woman or man wants to get married at 35-40 after having established a nice career, well Society just has to deal with it. If they don’t want children, Society has to deal with that too. Marriage and children are an INDIVIDUALS choice, and Society has no say whatsoever in that choice.

No one is talking about establishing a theocracy and/or having society force people to have kids. However, society can encourage families, and it is a good idea to do that. Just because people have a choice to be selfish doesn’t mean we have to sit back and give up.

 

[manualman]

I don’t get the theocracy comment. There are lots of easy things that can be done.

1. Make permanent the per child tax credit(IIRC its apart of the time-dated Bush tax cut). Actually, it would be nice if they INCREASED it for kids beyond the second. Say $1,000 each for the first two and $1,500 thereafter. Fix the AMT problem too.
2. Fund the GI bill more fully so vets get their whole education paid for. Expand it to provide non-military opportunities for 2 year low paid government service in return for bigtime college assistance. (Postal carriers, National Park workers, etc) IMO, this would be better than ‘free’ grants and still provide parents with hope that there is a way for their many kids to be educated.
3. Establish universal BASIC health care. This one will blacken my republican reputation, but I think we might be able to pull off routine coverage for all US citizens. It could cover most things done in a doctor’s office. If you want coverage for more advanced health treatment, you still gotta pay for insurance. Seems to me this might not cost THAT much more than the unofficial system we have now where all the poor folks go to the extremely expensive ER and get free treatment.
4. Simplify home daycare licensing for small facilities (say 5 kids or less) and exempt the first $10,000 of annual income from such a business from federal taxation (regardless of other family income). I think this would be a win-win for all as it would reduce daycare costs, keep a low kid-adult ratio, and provide great income opportunity for stay-at-home moms.

Funny, God didn’t show up in any of those. And the motivation isn’t purely religious, but practical. The article demonstates the dangers of negative population growth; countering it is in the national interest.

 

[gmarie21]

Isn’t this the reason why some countries are actually paying women who have children? I know many countries are on the verge of collapsing (New Zeland, South Korea, many European countries, etc.) and are trying to figure out how to make their economies survive. The US is only surviving (just at replacement level, by the way) because of immigrants. 2.1 children per family is replacement level and I think we’re at 2.2. Imagine if we didn’t have immigrants (legal and illegal), we’d be in as dire of a situation as many other “developed” countries who are so “intellectually superior” that they obviously didn’t see this problem occurring when they put the okay on legalizing abortions and creating cultures that are materialistic.

 

[rlg94086]

1. Establish universal BASIC health care. This one will blacken my republican reputation, but I think we might be able to pull off routine coverage for all US citizens. It could cover most things done in a doctor’s office. If you want coverage for more advanced health treatment, you still gotta pay for insurance. Seems to me this might not cost THAT much more than the unofficial system we have now where all the poor folks go to the extremely expensive ER and get free treatment.

Ha! I similarly jeopardized my Republican credentials with a similar recommendation on another thread. I’m not sure of the exact way to fund or cover this, but I think there are some real advantages here. If we can do preventative care, maybe we can also cut down on the need for some of the more expensive procedures. Everyone seems to be arguing all-or-nothing, when it comes to “nationalized healthcare.” There is no reason we can’t come up with a sensible compromise.

 

[chewchoo]

how are universal health care and the decline of the traditional family related? the decline of the nuclear family is related to the decline of a good moral base in our country and the world. health care has nothing to do with it.

adding more day care centers also contributes to the decline of the nuclear family. let’s have kids, but have somebody else raise them. yes there are always some situations where both parents need to work, but a lot of the dual working households are greed based. gotta have that big house or the cottage or RV. too much consumerism, not enough family-ism.

 

[rlg94086]

how are universal health care and the decline of the traditional family related? the decline of the nuclear family is related to the decline of a good moral base in our country and the world. health care has nothing to do with it.

adding more day care centers also contributes to the decline of the nuclear family. let’s have kids, but have somebody else raise them. yes there are always some situations where both parents need to work, but a lot of the dual working households are greed based. gotta have that big house or the cottage or RV. too much consumerism, not enough family-ism.

I agree with you chewchoo, but manualman was just enumerating some ways to support the raising of families. Raising a family is expensive, so tax breaks and help with healthcare costs can make a difference. However, you and I agree that the key issue is our attitude toward material goods.

 

[st_lucy]

My husband who is a researcher for our university has done a study on this decline and replacement rate of incoming freshmen. In a nutshell the figures show that in less than 15 years (2015 to be exact), major universities will have to start competing for incoming students since the population of 18-20 yr olds at the time will have shrunk. It is a rather scary thought. He did find however that the Hispanic community is the only group producing enough children to sustain the numbers.

It was a rather remarkable study, especially after reading children of men. It really got me thinking.

**I am sure I didn’t get all the terminology right, I am only his proof reader and I am not a statistician like DH.

 

[rlg94086]

My husband who is a researcher for our university has done a study on this decline and replacement rate of incoming freshmen. In a nutshell the figures show that in less than 15 years (2015 to be exact), major universities will have to start competing for incoming students since the population of 18-20 yr olds at the time will have shrunk. It is a rather scary thought. He did find however that the Hispanic community is the only group producing enough children to sustain the numbers.

It was a rather remarkable study, especially after reading children of men. It really got me thinking.

**I am sure I didn’t get all the terminology right, I am only his proof reader and I am not a statistician like DH.

I thought we were in the middle of another baby boomlet - msnbc.msn.com/id/22670983/

Demographers say it is too soon to know if the sudden increase in births is the start of a trend.
“We have to wait and see. For now, I would call it a noticeable blip,” said Brady Hamilton, a statistician with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Demographers often use the word boomlet for a small and brief baby boom.
To many economists and policymakers, the increase in births is good news. The U.S. fertility rate — the number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime — reached 2.1. That’s the “magic number” required for a population to replace itself.

So, I realize they say it is “too soon” to know if it’s the start of a trend, but at least things aren’t all gloom-and-doom.

 

[sidonius]

In a secular society there is no hope. No hope results in no children. The United States is being colonized by the Mexicans, starting in the Southwest. Russia is being colonized by China, starting in eastern Siberia. Europe is already “Eurabia” as noted by the late great Catholic athiest Orianna Fallaci. Demographics is destiny. As the wonderful Spengler put it a couple of years ago in the Asia Times Online: In 200 years French and German will be spoken exclusively in Hell.

Prediction: Between 2015 and 2025 there will be a major war between China and India. Why? Too many excess males in each country caused by too many aborted unborn females.

It is fascinating to live at the end of an Age.

 

[chewchoo]

Prediction: Between 2015 and 2025 there will be a major war between China and India. Why? Too many excess males in each country caused by too many aborted unborn females.
.

interesting, i didn’t know india was aborting female babies also. you may have a good prediction there.

 

[gam197]

India is aborting girl babies as well as China.

I would not be for more universal daycare but I would be for tax credits.

Socialized medicine - no. We have only to look at the United Kingdom and what they have done by using their local pharmacies to give out free condoms and emergency contraception. Would you like to see every US pharmacy in our food markets,etc. passing out free birth control? Our government is already funding Planned Parenthood to decrease population. No need to give it more power.

I would like to change the way we view health care. Wholesale Foods( I know it gives to PP) yet has a model where its employees have a medical savings account setup.
They have castastropic insurance ($5000 or less)in case of a major illness but the remainer of your money goes into a medical account passbook which you hold.When it comes to the day to day doctor visits, they set up an account where you use your own medical insurance money so you can shop around and get a better price on physicals,etc. What you don’t use, you get to keep when you go on Medicare as age 65.

I would like to hear more talk of castastrophic polices that can be purchased by the general public. The homosexual community may not like it because of a fear that they won’t be covered for HIV but all major illnesses should be covered.

 

[HOPEFUL_IN_UK]

how are universal health care and the decline of the traditional family related? the decline of the nuclear family is related to the decline of a good moral base in our country and the world. health care has nothing to do with it.

adding more day care centers also contributes to the decline of the nuclear family. let’s have kids, but have somebody else raise them. yes there are always some situations where both parents need to work, but a lot of the dual working households are greed based. gotta have that big house or the cottage or RV. too much consumerism, not enough family-ism.

It’s directly related. I speak as someone who lives in a country with nationalized health care.

We do not have a big house, an RV, or a cottage. We wouldn’t be able to have another child if it weren’t for the nationalized health care.

Providing and raising a younger generation of workers and tax-payers is a service to our society, and it behooves society to help us do that.

 

[gam197]

Found this on the John Galt Line. This is the show that was on 20/20.

Sick in America- John Stossel - 6 part series on Youtube

Whole Foods’(Bread and Circus) medical plan I believe is later in the show-Part 4, 5 or 6.

youtube.com/watch?v=aEXFUbSbg1I&eurl=http://www.whoisjohngalt.com/2007/09/index.html

 

[chewchoo]

It’s directly related. I speak as someone who lives in a country with nationalized health care.

We do not have a big house, an RV, or a cottage. We wouldn’t be able to have another child if it weren’t for the nationalized health care.

Providing and raising a younger generation of workers and tax-payers is a service to our society, and it behooves society to help us do that.

how long has the UK had socialized medicine? when did the population decline start in the UK? how did the UK growing population of the past sustain itself prior to the advent of the entitlement programs?

i’m not trying to be smart here, it’s just that it is so much more difficult to live today than in the past. why is that? as society drifts away from God who does it turn to for support? the government. i am not inclined to rely on the government for anything.

 

[manualman]

It’s directly related. I speak as someone who lives in a country with nationalized health care.

We do not have a big house, an RV, or a cottage. We wouldn’t be able to have another child if it weren’t for the nationalized health care.

Providing and raising a younger generation of workers and tax-payers is a service to our society, and it behooves society to help us do that.

You maynot be aware of how health insurance works in the USA. If you DO have a job that provides health care, there are typically three payment tiers:

1. single person coverage.
2. single plus one coverage.
3. Full family coverage.

The full family coverage rate applies if you have two kids or twelve. So unless you were too poor to afford family health insurance at all, the med cost is no different (except deductibles). Unfortunately, we DO have a fair number of families who are either too poor to afford it or are self-employed and aren’t covered by an employer.

 

[HOPEFUL_IN_UK]

how long has the UK had socialized medicine? when did the population decline start in the UK? how did the UK growing population of the past sustain itself prior to the advent of the entitlement programs?

i’m not trying to be smart here, it’s just that it is so much more difficult to live today than in the past. why is that? as society drifts away from God who does it turn to for support? the government. i am not inclined to rely on the government for anything.

The birth rate has fallen since the introduction of socialized medicine. But, that’s due to other factors. I believe it would be even worse if there weren’t socialized medicine. It’s one of the few things that helps.

It’s not relying on the government, either. It’s taking care of one another, like civilized people. We pay taxes and those taxes pay for things like the military, paved roads, emergency rescue, and health care. All hallmarks of a civilized nation.