For Immediate Release
For More Information: info@ruthinstitute.org
On Demographic Winter, New York Times Finally Getting It
Regarding the May 24 New York Times article,
“Long Slide Looms for World Population,” Ruth Institute President Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D., said, “The mainstream media is finally starting
to get that Demographic Winter is a reality.”
The Times reports: “All over the world, countries are confronting population stagnation and a fertility bust, a dizzying reversal unmatched in
human history that will make first birthday parties a rarer sight than funerals, and empty homes a common eyesore.
“Like an avalanche, the demographic forces – pushing toward more deaths than births – seem to be expanding and accelerating.”
The article also notes:
- The combination of longer lives and lower fertility is leading to fewer workers and more retirees, putting a severe strain on pension systems.
- Because China will begin experiencing population decline, and Nigeria will continue growing due to larger family size, by the end of the century, Nigeria
could have more people than China. - Once worldwide population decline begins, it could lead to a population freefall.
- Countries like the U.S., Australia and Canada, with birthrates between 1.5 and 2 (with 2.1 needed to replace current population), have lessened the
impact with immigration. - In 1992, South Korea had 900,000 18-year-olds. Today the number is 500,000.
- An article in The Lancet speculates that by 2100, 183 out of 195 countries and territories will have fertility rates below replacement.
- In Europe, incentives like baby bonuses and subsidized child care have had only a temporary impact on declining fertility.
“But there’s still a lot the media misses,” said Ruth Inst. Coalitions Director Don Feder. “The biggest factors driving falling fertility are the decline
of marriage and religious observance. In the United States, the fertility rate has dropped from 3.5 in the 1950s to 1.9 today. Among adults in the prime childbearing years of 18 to 24, 45% were married in 1960, but only 9% were in 2016.”
Feder will speak on Demographic Winter at the Ruth Institute’s Survivors’ Summit, “Reclaiming the Professions for Life and Family,”
July 16-17 in Lake Charles, LA.
The Ruth Institute is a global non-profit organization, leading an international interfaith
coalition to defend the family and build a civilization of love.
Jennifer Roback Morse is the author of The Sexual State: How Elite Ideologies Are Destroying Lives and Love and Economics: It Takes a Family to Raise a Village.
To schedule an interview with Dr. Morse or Don Feder, contact media@ruthinstitute.org.
