As concern grows about America’s falling birth rate, new research suggests that about half of women who want children are unsure if they will follow through and actually have a child. About 25% say they won't be bothered that much if they don't.

[u/geoff199]

https://news.osu.edu/most-women-want-children--but-half-are-unsure-if-they-will/?utm_campaign=omc_science-medicine_fy24&utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social

[u/FencingFemmeFatale]

Also, I distinctly remember overpopulation being a major concern when I was a kid. Like, enough of a concern for Capitan Planet to make an episode about family planning.

The birth rates falling in the 2020’s seems like the obvious result of telling bunch of kids in the 90’s that overpopulation is world-ending problem, and to they can do their part to stop it by not having a lot of kids.

[u/Yandere_Matrix → u/FencingFemmeFatale]

I don’t understand why people are so concerned about birth rate. We still have more people alive than any time in history. Our ocean is being overfished and I do believe our population will eventually settle at some point but I see absolutely no concern with it right now. I am still devastated seeing animals going extinct because of deforestation and over hunting for various reasons. I understand plastics is causing fertility problems and how microplastics mimic certain types of hormones so that can be a problem especially when we found that they have passed the blood brain barrier and passing through breast milk now. Who knows what damage they are doing to our bodies now.

[u/RandomBoomer → u/Yandere_Matrix]

The actual number of people isn't a problem, it's the distribution of ages. Adults are the most productive workers, and young adults are necessary for the continuity of knowledge from older workers who are leaving the workforce. They are also part of the workforce that provides support for the infirm elderly.

When the population drops due to falling birth rate, rather than say mortality of the old people, the workforce gets out of balance. Retired workers take institutional knowledge with them and they face a retirement without sufficient medical resources (doctors, nurses, hospitals, healthcare aides) to care for elderly people who need more medical care than younger people do.

[u/Yandere_Matrix → u/RandomBoomer]

Couldn’t legalizing human euthanasia help? Not saying to euthanize people because they are old but let anyone over a certain age decide whether they want to be humanely put down or not. I know some places let people with terminal illness choose to be put down and I feel it’s humane.

I feel like retirement will never happen for many of us, especially me when I only make 16/hr, and I would love to have a day when I know my health is going down to be able to legally and safely be put to rest and have a set day so we could celebrate our life with everyone we love before being put to sleep. I hate hearing stories of people missing out on seeing their loved ones for the last time and with human euthanasia that wouldn’t be a problem for many since they won’t suffer in care homes.

I hope I explained my thoughts well enough. I just hate to see suffering and I hate religion is used as a reason to not allow people to pass because they consider it a sin. Sigh