Handy Discusses the Declining Birthrate Around the World, and Why It Is Bad

Introduction

According to researchers, the average rate of childbirth in most of the industrial nations has decreased to a large extent in the last few decades. This falling birth rate can be a big problem in the future. The declining birth rate around the world can be a looming challenge for both businesses and the government of a country. Handy has explained why the falling birth rate has enough reasons for us to be worried.

The Reasons

Here are some reasons why the declining birth rate around the world is not good at all:

1. It may threaten the growth of many industries – The declining birth rate can be good for resources that are strained but it may threaten the industries that focus on consumers as the growth of such industries largely depends on the increasing pools of customers.

2. It indicates a lower living standard – The big drop in the birth rate may not change the unemployment rate or the price of fuel or the hike in the stock market or any major economic force which can make your life better or worse but it certainly indicates the lower living standards of the country.

3. It is not a solution – The slower birth rate is only good for an economy where the resource is limited, and the economic policies are not functioning properly. But the lower birth rate in such an economy should not be celebrated because by encouraging lower birth rate you are just dividing up the resources present instead of encouraging the opportunity for creating wealth.

So, instead of encouraging the lower birth rate, the economy should be dynamic and try to create wealth and create resources that are enough for all the citizens of the country.

4. A smaller population does not mean more wealth – Almost everywhere, the most densely populated places are the wealthiest areas of the world. This fact clearly indicates that a larger population has the capacity to generate more wealth compared to that of a smaller population.

5. It cannot improve the economy – According to the Pew Research Center, the birth rate of the US was at a peak in 1957 when the economy of the country was booming. During that time the rate of unemployment was just 4.5 percent. However, during the 1970s the birth rate has declined to a huge extent when inflation and other kinds of economic and financial problems struck the workers of the US.

This happened because when the country was facing inflation the younger citizens of the country were waiting longer to get married and the married people were waiting longer to have kids or envisioned having fewer kids. This had a significant effect on the population rate in the country. From this fact, it can be analyzed that the declining birthrate around the world is not good at all for any country.

Conclusion

Handy believes that we should try to address the economic problems by trying to create more wealth and value. Although it is okay to control the population of a nation, being too restrictive can also have negative consequences.