The most recent articles on population problems.

An article in May in WorldNetDaily.com, Inc., by Anthony C. LoBaido calls it "perhaps the single greatest disinformation campaign in human history."  The popular view is that there are too many people on the planet and as the population continues its explosion we face famine and all sorts of natural catastrophes as a result.  It's popular, but not true.  LoBaido points out that the major cities in Asia -  Bangkok, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo, and HongKong - are overpopulated but prosperous.  Compare Taiwan and China - Taiwan has a population density of 1,460 per square mile, China has 360 per square mile.  But Taiwan's per capita gross domestic product is $16,500 while China's is $3,600.  Europe is facing the necessity of large immigration from the Third World countries.  In this article, lots of other interesting facts and figures about population and the push for birth control.  Updated 8/22/00

Updated 6/26/00

EUROPE -- European government officials have begun to warn that pension systems for the retired and elderly face economic collapse because there are too few children being born to pay into the systems as the population ages, according to a report by the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-Fam). C-Fam said in its report that most European countries are no longer replacing their populations because of a negative birth rate. "The average woman in an advanced industrial society must have 2.1 children in her lifetime in order for the country's population to remain stable," the group said. "The United Nations reports that 61 countries, and all of Europe, are experiencing 'below replacement fertility.' Experts expect this number to grow to as many as 80 countries in the coming year."
  
The report said the problem is even more severe in the former Communist countries of Eastern Europe. It said population levels are expected to drop by a third by 2050 and those countries have the lowest fertility rates in the world -- 1.3 per woman compared to 1.6 per woman in western Europe. As fewer children are born, the population ages, C-Fam warned, and must rely on increasing social security and medical systems.

"The bind doubles as this growing need cannot be met by a shrinking number of younger and more productive workers," they said. C-Fam said the United Nations' recommendation of dramatically increased immigration is unfeasible considering the current political upheaval over a relatively small number of immigrant workers. And pro-lifers in Europe are worried that the increasing strain on medical systems will lead to increased euthanasia.

JAPAN -- In the hallways, bathrooms and lunchroom of the Bandai Corporation, a major Japanese toy maker, the talk these days revolves around one topic -- an announcement that the company will pay employees one million yen, or $10,000, for every baby they have after their second child. Although many other companies give congratulatory bonuses to workers who become parents, Bandai is offering the largest baby bounty in Japan, which is struggling to reverse record-low birthrates that pose many long-term underpopulation problems. The offer, which began last month, is part of an effort by the government and employers to persuade the Japanese, who have one of the lowest birthrates in the world, to go forth and multiply. The average birthrate for a Japanese woman was 1.38 children in 1998, a record low for Japan and one of the world's lowest. The population is 126 million. But demographers estimate that the number will fall, to 105 million.

Pro-Life Infonet, June 4, 2000.  The Pro-Life Infonet is a daily compilation of pro-life news and information. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe" to: infonet-request@prolifeinfo.org. Infonet is sponsored by Women and Children First (http://www.prolifeinfo.org/wcf). For more pro-life info visit http://www.prolifeinfo.org and for questions or additional information email ertelt@prolifeinfo.org

US Census Report Reveals Benefits of Population Growth

Washington--- America's greatest resource is her people. This belief is enshrined in our founding documents, in which human life, in all its abundance, is affirmed as the first inalienable right. This belief is moreover demonstrated by our history. From a scant 3 million colonists scattered along the Eastern Seaboard of North America, we have grown to 270 million today. And with that great increase in population has come a cornucopia of prosperity.

Comparing the America of 1900 with the America of 2000, as the US Census Bureau has recently done, confirms the link between population and prosperity (US Census Bureau, "1999 US Census Bureau Statistical Abstract: Compendium for the Millennium," December 1999). At the turn of the last century, the US had a population of 76 million, the average life span was 47, and Standard and Poor's composite index was 6.2.

As our population boomed over the past century, so did life-spans, scientific innovation and entrepreneurial activity. Today America numbers 270 million, the average life span is 77, and the Standard and Poor Index has reached 1,430, some 231 times its mark a century before.

Entering the new millennium, the US Census Bureau report makes clear, America has never been so populous, productive and healthy. America's farmland, thanks to the ingenuity of tens of thousands of scientists and the hard work of millions of farmers, continues to set records in yield per acre and total yield. New scientific discoveries have paved the way for longer, healthier lives, and have helped cut death rates in half from 17.2 people per 1,000 per year in 1900, to 8.60 per 1,000 per year in 1997.

At the same time, however, American family size has shrunk from 4.8 persons at the turn of the century to a remarkably low 2.6 persons in 1996. Declining birthrates and increasing life expectancies have combined to propel the average age of the population upward. The percentage of Americans aged 65 and over is rapidly increasing, and will grow from its current 16.5% to 24.3% by 2020. By 2050 America will be much grayer,with fully one-third of the entire population over 60 years of age.

The most troubling portent for America's future is our rapidly falling birthrate. We are no longer having enough children to replace ourselves. For the first time in American history, our nation is faced with the very real prospect of population decline.

By 2020, the Total Fertility Rate--the average number of children born per woman--is projected to decline to only 1.5 (1998 UN Revision, World Population Prospects, 413 [low variant projection]). As a result of these unprecedently low fertility rates, America's population is projected to begin declining about 2030. Scarcely noticeable at first, the decline will accelerate in subsequent decades.

Those who argue that a demographic decline will not necessarily lead to a social and economic implosion ought to visit dying Europe, where the most vibrant sector of the economy deals with death. The mortuaries and cemeteries are doing a booming business, while the maternity wards and the preschools stand empty.

As the new century dawns, Americans are faced with a historical choice. Will we remain open to a further increase in our numbers--an infusion of new blood, if you will--or will we condemn ourselves to a gray and declining future? If we conclude (with Pogo and the anti-people ideologues), that "We have met the enemy and he is us," then our future decline as a people seems inevitable. Those who read history, however, will reach a different conclusion: For America's people have always been her greatest asset.

Pro-Life Infonet 1/11/00      Source: Population Research Institute's Weekly Briefing, 1/7/00   The Pro-Life Infonet is a daily compilation of pro-life news and information. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe" to: infonet-request@prolifeinfo.org. Infonet is sponsored by Women and Children First (http://www.prolifeinfo.org/wcf). For more pro-life info visit http://www.prolifeinfo.org and for questions or additional information email ertelt@prolifeinfo.org

Other commentaries on the lack of a population explosion problem:

Alan Greenspan
Peter Drucker