America, China and Russia face (ever-) decreasing birth rates and to such an extent that various politicians have already claimed a demographic crisis. However, the reasons are very, very different.
WSJ, 25 April 2024: “Fewer babies were born in the U.S. in 2023 than any year since 1979. American women are giving birth at record-low rates. The total fertility rate fell to 1.62 births per woman in 2023, a 2% decline from a year earlier [ ]”.
Almost everything is (very) expensive in USA, in particular education, fresh food, healthcare, and housing. In my view, raising a family is too expensive for many Americans. Hence, ever-decreasing US birth rates are logical and rational.
China is facing the consequences of its one-child policy from 1979 to 2015. Moreover, Chinese parents preferred giving birth to sons rather than to daughters (Wiki). Only authoritarian regimes can implement such absurd policies, regardless of its “arguments” (eg, overpopulation).
“In 2022, large-scale surveys showed an even clearer trend of young, Chinese women moving away from the traditional embrace of marriage. A 2021 Communist Youth League survey of 2,905 urban young people between ages 18 and 26 found that young women were significantly more opposed to marriage than young men.”
Source: Fighting back: why women are rejecting marriage in China (2024)
Recently, authoritarian China is considering a new policy: “China’s proposed measures to ease marriage registration and make divorces harder have provoked a public backlash, reflecting the challenges the world’s No. 2 economy faces in trying to arrest a sharp drop in births.” (Bloomberg-2024)
Russia is facing the demographic consequences of its war in Ukraine. Frontline soldiers are usually men. However, male treatment of Russian women has been an issue for many decades (eg, Quora, Vox).
“Facing his country’s demographic decline and a war in Ukraine that is killing and wounding many men, the Russian president is urging women to adopt traditional roles and serve the nation by giving birth young and often, and by raising their children to be patriots.”
Quote from Washington Post article dated 30 July 2024
To some extent, a similar demographic trend is visible in Europe. In my view, the European reasons are somewhat related to the American cost of living issues (eg, energy, groceries, housing).
“As of the most recent data, Italy was one of the nations with the lowest birth rates in the world at 1.24 per woman — well below the level needed, in economists’ terms, for the population to sustain itself without immigration.”
Quote from 2024 article in Fortune magazine
Hence, my blog title: from a Baby Boom generation towards a Baby Bust generation.
Baby Boom Baby (1988) by James Taylor
artist, lyrics, video, Wiki-artist, Wiki-album+song
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless in quotes or stated otherwise.
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