The Size of the Families
The first assignment was a very interesting topic. We learned about the changes in the number of individuals per family over the past couple of decades. I think it was interesting to me because I have never stopped to wonder why people have fewer kids nowadays. What changed their mindset? When did it start and what are the consequences?
These questions are nicely answered in the documentary titled “The New Economic Reality: Demographic Winter”. It was there when I first heard the phrase “demographic winter", which is a term used to describe a decline in birth rates and population growth that is happening all over the world. We can see this trend going everywhere but it is particularly pronounced in developed countries like the United States. There are several factors that contribute to the statistics but one of the main reasons for this decline is simply that people are having fewer children than they used to.
Although there are many reasons contributing to this phenomenon, the first one mentioned in the documentary, and the one that I found the dumbest and funniest at the same time, was actually a man named Paul Ehrlich. In 1968, the Stanford University biologist predicted in his book "The Population Bomb", that hundreds of millions would starve to death over the next decade, many of them Americans and the world would generally decline into chaos.
In his writing, Paul emphasized the importance of having fewer children in order to use less of the resources available in the world. He even went on to compare having more than one or two children to robbing five million dollars from a bank. Though this may seem extreme, Ehrlich did this because he was under the impression that having many children was a form of stealing resources from others in the present and ruining the future of the next generations.
This book, his principles, and his ideas did have an impact on the past generations and their views of the size of families. Even though there is no information about the book being a direct influence on China’s One-Child Policy, the concepts behind the implementation of this rule and what Paul Ehrlich described in his writings (the rapid population growth would strain the resources) seemed very much the same.
For those like me, who did not know about this controversial law from the Asian country, it was basically a set of stimuli and punishments. According to Britannica.com, "methods of enforcement included making various contraceptive methods widely available, offering financial incentives and preferential employment opportunities for those who complied, imposing sanctions (economic or otherwise) against those who violated the policy, and, at times (notably the early 1980s), invoking stronger measures such as forced abortions and sterilizations (the latter primarily of women). The one-child policy was enforced for most Chinese into the 21st century, but in late 2015 Chinese officials announced that the program was ending. Beginning in early 2016, all families would be allowed to have two children, but that change did not lead to a sustained increase in birth rates."
In modern times people might not be following advice from a book whose predictions never become true or they might not be living in a country that limits their right to have as many children as they want, but the decision of having fewer kids or even none is still very prevalent. This might be because of a number of factors, including increasing education and career opportunities for women, as well as rising costs of living and raising a family.
Here is where I started to think about my beliefs and the relation they have in my decisions, especially the important ones like forming a family. For those that are not religious, the possibility of the data, statistics, and other sources of information having a greater impact on their choices is bigger. For members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is easier to have faith and hope that good things will come and, that the blessings coming from following God’s commandments and the word of his prophets in modern days will be true. This is what ultimately made me and my wife decide to have kids while still in college. I will be honest and say it has not been the easiest thing I have ever experienced but it has also not been the hardest.
Now, the decision of having children should always be left solely at the discretion of those involved in raising them but, from a general point of view, there are real repercussions for having a smaller family. One of the consequences of this decline in birth rates is the called aging population. This means that there will be fewer young people entering the workforce in the coming years causing a domino effect that will have a major impact on the economy, as there will be less people to support the older population through taxes and Social Security.
The information is there and the decision is personal. I know it is challenging and scary to face the future as uncertain as it is right now and even more bringing kids into the world in its current state, but all I can say from my own experience is that having kids has been the greatest source of true joy and happiness I have ever had.
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