Posted on 12/21/2007 2:26:38 PM PST by Marie2
For the first time in 35 years, the U.S. fertility rate has climbed high enough to sustain a stable population, solidifying the nation's unique status among industrialized countries.
The overall fertility rate increased 2 percent between 2005 and 2006, nudging the average number of babies being born to each woman to 2.1, according to the latest federal statistics. That marks the first time since 1971 that the rate has reached a crucial benchmark of population growth: the ability of each generation to replace itself.
"It's been quite a long time since we've had a rate this high," said Stephanie J. Ventura of the National Center for Health Statistics. "It's a milestone."
While the rising fertility rate was unwelcome news to some environmentalists, the "replacement rate" is generally considered desirable by demographers and sociologists because it means a country is producing enough young people to replace and support aging workers without population growth being so high it taxes national resources.
"This is a noteworthy event," said John Bongaarts of the Population Council, a New York-based think tank. "This is a sign of demographic health. Many countries would like to be at this level."
Europe, Japan and other industrialized countries have long had fertility rates far below the replacement level, creating the prospect of labor shortages and loss of cultural identity as the proportion of native-born residents shrinks in relation to immigrant populations.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Well, we’ve done our part! We’ve got 4 kids and all are, or will be soon, contributing members of the economy and society!
I guess you had ours :~D
More American women need to be like the Spears. Reproduce at a young age.
Too bad those of us of Mediterranean and other NON Anglo-Saxon heritage don’t live up to your exacting standards.
If we were to merge with Canada and Mexico, we will enjoy the benefits of 150 million more people and access to natural resources such as oil.
;o)
You can thank the Spears sisters for the rise. Cheetos seem to be a fertility miracle!
Yes, but how much of this is solely due to the Spears family?
This is one of the problems with this method of measuring the fertility rate. Most demographers now measure fertility rate as per 1000 of women of child bearing age.
Superpower status doesn't depend on population. The US is already the third largest country in the world in terms of population. We will have close to half a billion people by 2050. One in four residents of this country will be Hispanic.
Our energy needs, infrastructure requirements such as roads, sewage treatment plants, electrical grids, etc. will need to be expanded along with schools, hospitals, social welfare systems, etc. Our economy and standard of living could very well decline along with a Balkanization of the country along cultural and linguistic lines. And in 2030, we will have nearly 80 million people drawing SS and Medicare, about double what we have today. SS and Medicare are on the verge of going belly up.
China's population is not declining, just slowing down due to the below replacement level fertility rate [by design]. Thew world's population is increasing by 57 million a year [the equivalent of adding a new Italy] and will continue to do so until at least 2050.
India is growing faster than the US and will be more populous than China in the not too distant future.
It's the water (in the beer)...
Thank you illegal aliens and the Spears Family!
Hey, they could be the 51st and 52nd states. I like it.
“Well, we’ve done our part. . .”
Right in there with you with five of our own!
Hey, not ALL the babies are illegals or illegitimate. But God bless them, anyway.
And it’s all Bush’s fault!!
I didn't speak a word of English when I started school and my ancestors were at war with the English almost every generation from the forfeiture of the Duchy of Normandy in 1192 until 1815.
But I consider myself culturally 'anglo-saxon', since that is my intellectual language and the language of my political beliefs. Of course, since my family were French army officers and settlers in North Africa, they were already rednecks, just French-speaking ones :-)
Why is it such a problem if 1 out 4 Americans are Hispanic? We went through this route before and we did just fine.
*snort*
The narcisism of our elites is terrible to see. They despite the past and care nothing for the future, living only for the pleasures of the moment.
The population is growing older even as it declines. The means a population less vigorous in every regard.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.