What's so bad about low birth rates, anyway?

Question

I've read some ultra traditionalists complain about western countries having low birth rates and how it is harmful to the culture. Why is it so bad for married couples to actually PLAN the size of their families? Yes you will have fewer children but those children will be more likely to be better educated, healthier, and more financially sucessful because the more financial resources and individual training went in to those children, whereas with a larger number of children the resources and time for the kids would be strechted thin because of both parents having to devote so much time to simply providing the physical needs of the children. Most of the dirty and dangerous jobs that are given to immigrants are getting less neccessary anyway as technology advances, so the argument of needing a labor base is absurd in that well educated prosperous people will see to it that their kids get good educations as well as the immigrants' children who will eventually work their way up in society

Hopefully the third world will catch on and imitate the west, so that a global population crisis can be averted.

I'll admit kja63 made a good point. Hopefully the more educated societies become the more resources they will have to control population levels. A good example of this is China, though they still have work to do and need to adress female infanticide as a VERY serious problem.

Answer 1

The problem is the disproportionate number of children being born to poor, ill-educated people.

The number of children being born to poverty homes where they have limited opportunities of receiving health care, quality education, and a good upbringing are staggering. While the number of children being born to middle class or higher families where they have excellent opportunities are very low.

So now we have a disproportionate number of poor, uneducated people in society. That is a drain on our health care system, our welfare system, our taxes, and it increases our violent crimes.

This is the issue.

Answer 2

If the birth rate is less that 2.0 then the population in general will shrink. This means the next generation will not have as many laborers as we have now. If this goes on long enough, the country will not be able to compete with other countries economically.

The culture problem arises from people from other countries immigrating to take the jobs that cannot be filled with natives. The immigrants will bring their own culture with them and the original culture will eventually be lost. Imagine cultural diversity gone wild, the country would eventually have no unique culture of its own.

I'm not saying that would be a good or bad thing, but that is the reasoning behind fear of low birth rates.

Answer 3

Well, there are many refined answers to your question, but a relatively simple answer is this one: you think like an individual, they (gov, agencies, whatever) think like a society. Low birth rate means less people to take on the jobs left vacant when their parents retire. That means less money to pay these people superannuation (I don't know if that's the name in the US, super in Australia is the money you get when you retire). That means less taxes income unless you raise taxes, which is not possible beyond a certain threshold (no one will accept that 50% of their money goes to taxes for example). Also, as the population get older and less people are born, that mean huge increased medical expenses for the gov; yup, you cost way more when you are old. As for the immigration question, it is a huge problem for gov around the world, just follow the news, Australia and France are the latest example and govs preffer their own people who are formed to similar way of working and functioning as a whole, it's easier to plan and manage. And for a population being better educated, sorry to appears cynical, but a society need all the levels of social stratigraphy and low wages jobs will always exist, because it is relative, not absolute and different social levels are needed for a society to function (I mean here a capitalist society). I don't like that idea as an individual, but for a society, it makes sense. So yes, on an individual level it is better to have less children and spend more ressources on them, but for the system as a whole it is a major problem.

Answer 4

Lower birth weights are primarily more of a health issue than anything. It leaves the fetus more susceptible to disease and possible death.

The unfortunate repercussion to our country is economical in the sense of medical costs. Unless expenses are paid completely out of the pocket of patients or guardians of patients, insurance benefits or government benefits will have to kick in.

This is the problem- the more insurance companies have to pay out, the more they charge the consumer. If the government pays the bill, it affects the taxpayers with higher taxes. If the hospital bill doesn't get paid at all, that results in higher medical bills to pay for what others won't or can't.

Higher prices and more taxes impact the economy which then affects the ability of the nation to function efficiently.

No matter what, life is valuable. Sacrificing the few for the many is the wrong mentality. As a people we need to be as responsible as humanly possible and try to find better answers where the existing ones fail.

Answer 5

Personally, I think low birth rates are good. We're having a population crisis, and we will run out of space soon if people don't start planning smaller families.

Answer 6

I think the only people who are concerned are religious organizations like the Catholic Church who need more Catholics to gain more political power. If you control the people you control the power. I guess it works with all organizations. You need people who agree with you to have lots of kids so they can raise them to agree with you too, and you can stay in power.

Answer 7

I hate kids. I'm glad theres low birth rates.

Answer 8

if there r low birth rates it means there r not much means to protect new borns 4m diseases.it shows the level of progress of the country

Answer 9

Personally..I LOVE low birth rates. They rock!
\m/ \m/

Answer 10

It os bad because less people on Earth which means less people to do jobs