New on OnlySky: What Would It Take to Raise the Birth Rate?

New on OnlySky: What would it take to raise the birth rate?

I have a new column this week on OnlySky. It’s about the trend of falling birth rates and what, if anything, we can do to reverse it. The birth rate is falling across the world, in both wealthy and developing nations, in societies that seemingly have little in common culturally or politically. If this trend continues, the global population will level out within a few decades and then start to shrink. If this is a problem we need to collectively …

What would it take to raise the birth rate?

[Previous: The fertility freeze]The birth rate is falling worldwide. What can we do about it?First of all, how sure are we that this is even a problem?Politicians and demographers worry that a shrinking population will have catastrophic consequences for the future. It will strain welfare programs, since there will be fewer working-age people for each retiree. It will create social stress and dislocation as towns and villages empty out and wind u…