U.S. birth rate has dropped below replacement level

Charlie Butts
OneNewsNow
5/16/2010

According to newly released government statistics, the U.S. birth rate has dropped below replacement level.

The fact that the birth rate is falling comes as no surprise to Colin Mason, director of media production at the Population Research Institute (PRI), who explains that "our birth rate's actually been dropping for a while."

"It's been kind of propped up temporarily by immigration to this country, but I think that as that starts to level off and as our birth rate really starts to fall in earnest, you're going to start to see more reports like this," he predicts.

Mason believes that will ultimately have the same impact Europe and China are already experiencing. the rest image by surlygirl

So Much for Europe's Superiority
"But Euro-stagnation is nothing new. It’s deeply rooted and longstanding. Indeed, since 1970 it has not been the U.S. that has faded before the onslaught from the East, but the core 15 nations of the European Union. Over that 40-year period the EU-15’s share of world GDP has plummeted from roughly 37 percent to under 28 percent; the American chunk, roughly 27 percent, has stayed remarkably even. Basically Asia, and particularly China and India’s gain, largely has been at Europe’s expense, not our's...

...Europe’s problems extend well beyond policy, into the realm of culture and demographics. Even in France, people and what they do actually matter more than abstract ideas. A culture that believes in itself, not only to have children, but also start businesses and innovate will overcome one, however theoretically well managed, that does not. This is the fundamental problem of Europe as whole, although it does not apply equally to every individual country in the union."