Al Mohler:
Is the fact that fertility is falling around the world good news? You would certainly think so if you agree with the analysis cheerily offered by The Economist. That very respected journal of economic analysis recently offered a cover story that celebrated falling human fertility as “changing the world for the better.”
“Sometime in the next few years (if it hasn’t happened already) the world will reach a milestone,” the magazine predicts, adding that “half of humanity will be having only enough children to replace itself.” In other words, for half of the world the fertility rate will have dropped to 2.1, considered the replacement rate for couples. This milestone, the magazine declares, “is one of the most dramatic social changes in history.”
Predictions about falling fertility rates have become commonplace. In much of Europe, falling fertility has been a fact of life for decades. In many countries on the continent, falling fertility is already leading to social pressures as the workforce ages quickly and schools see falling enrollments. In Russia, the army fears that it will be unable to deploy adequate troops in coming years — there are simply not enough boys to become the next generation’s soldiers. In Japan, falling fertility rates point to dramatic changes in the society. As one observer noted, the nation is on its way to becoming a giant geriatric ward with fewer and fewer young people.
The Economist sees all this as good news . . .
Read the whole thing here.
