Millennials are fueling the continued downward trend in fertility rates.
The number of babies born in America last year was the lowest in more than four decades, according to federal figures released Wednesday that show a continuing U.S. fertility slump.
U.S. women had about 3.61 million babies in 2020, down 4% from the prior year, provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics shows. The total fertility rate—a snapshot of the average number of babies a woman would have over her lifetime—fell to 1.64. That was the lowest rate on record since the government began tracking it in the 1930s, and likely before that when families were larger, said report co-author Brady Hamilton. Total births were the lowest since 1979.
Source: Births in U.S. Drop to Levels Not Seen Since 1979 – WSJ
This is a fascinating study in people’s primal response to progressive leftism. In 1979 the U.S. population was 225 million and our national debt was $827 billion, or about $3,700 for every man, woman, and child. Today our population is 330 million and our national debt is about $28,000 billion, or about $85,000 ($23,000 in 1979 inflation adjusted dollars) for every man, woman, child, and alternative pronoun. Today nearly 34% of the American population receives means-tested income from the government. That money is borrowed money. The federal government has had to borrow money 46 out of the past 50 years to make ends meet.
President Biden’s outrageous spending proposals are going to add significantly to that $85,000 per capita debt. His administration’s green energy plans will make the cost of energy a significant burden on the average American. Gasoline prices are already up about $1.00 per gallon nationwide which will inflate all prices of goods and services that require fuel, from farming to long-haul trucking to travel, the increase in fuel costs will be passed on to the consumer.
With the help of social media, leftist policies have incrementally taken over American life. Little things like the phrase, “Merry Christmas,” once a universal greeting, is now used with caution for fear of retribution. In some cities to carry an American flag is to put your life at risk. To actually stand in respect of the flag during the national anthem, once an unifying moment where athletic competition was an apolitical event bringing communities together in the respectful spirit of competition, has now become dangerous, driving some athletes to quit altogether because of rampant bullying. I once addressed a small group of women in my Portland pharmacy with the PNW gender neutral term “guys,” asking if I could help them, only to get yelled at for not saying “gals.” Maybe in Australia that’s correct, but not in my regional dialect. I could write a book. I am sure someone has.
SJWs, ANTIFA, BLM, and the like, have been burning America down in an accelerated fashion over the past five years. Common Core, the rot in public education, critical race theory, and the 1619 project amongst others, long ago turned public education into a system of indoctrination most American adults are loath to expose their children. Unfortunately, now that we have created a ‘liberated world” for women, most children are born out of wedlock in government subsidized households, and the school system is the single parent’s nanny. In two parent families, both parents have to work to make ends meet, and once again the school system takes over as the child’s moral center.
To all this, you can add the general moral bankruptcy in America. Traditional, sexually monogamous, American families are under attack, while a new, progressive, polyamorous, gender-redefining culture is recording annual records for sexually transmitted diseases. The rule of law is broken. Free speech is no longer protected, and in many circumstances the mob really rules. The loss of rational thought is mind boggling.
When young women and young couples look at all this – crushing personal and government debt, insane government policies, the loss of individuality in the face of public education/indoctrination, a violent, leftist cancel culture, and the forced replacement of virtues with vices – it is not a wonder so many choose not to bring new life into such a world. Just because young people today do not know how to restore rational, moral behavior in America, does not mean they do not recognize the decline, and see bringing a child into such a culture an irresponsible act. Our time sucks, the future will suck worse, and they know it.