Our Birth Rate Is Declining, But Immigration Can Help

For most of our lives, we were conditioned to abstain from sex, to not get pregnant, and to get educated and pursue a career. More so, millennials are having significantly less sex than the generations before them— believe it or not. So with fewer people have sex, and fewer folks having kids, is our birth rate being impacted? According to reports, the answer is yes. In fact, the birth rate in the U.S. is rapidly decreasing. For the fourth year in a row, the birth rate has decreased, and while some may think a low population is good (you know because the world is going to end anyway), for the time being, it could have a disastrous economic effect. There is a solution to this: immigrants.

According to a Bloomberg opinion piece, immigrants can help the country’s low birth rate to stabilize the future economy and help with government aid such as social security.

“The decline poses a long-term problem for an aging country in which more and more citizens are dependent upon social security, government healthcare and a shrinking number of workers to fund both,” the piece states. If the country continues on this path, the economic turmoil could be catastrophic.

Here’s what the writer is suggesting, based on the downturn in birthrates in Asia, and how they are recovering from it. The writer notes that in some countries in Asia, the governments have “focused on pro-marriage and pro-natalist policies designed to counter what were thought to be the factors inhibiting couples from marrying and having children.” That means they have better policies in place in the workforce, better healthcare, more benefits for parents and their children.

In the U.S., we have terrible laws when it comes to maternity leave. Our laws make it incredibly challenging to plan for a family, to afford a family, so who could expect us to want to procreate if we live in a society that doesn’t support that?

Singapore's efforts include:

👪 Childcare subsidies
🎓 Matchmaking agency for college grads
💰 Cash bonuses for having kids
🤱🏻 Maternity and paternity leave policies

These policies boost gender equality, but they've failed to increase fertility rates https://t.co/hX5uoirriV pic.twitter.com/Zx9A5WIdVb

— Bloomberg Opinion (@opinion) May 20, 2019

The writer says that if the U.S. had better laws in place to help nurture people who want to have children, the economy would flourish in large part because of the immigrant community. A healthy economic environment and stable workforce would mean that our country would be in a much better place overall and people would feel comfortable starting a family.

“America should simply do what it’s always done to rejuvenate its population and economy: Open the doors to young and skilled newcomers,” the writer states. “Until some country shows otherwise, immigration remains the most effective means of reversing a baby bust.”

We totally welcome that idea. What do you think?