Let’s face it: Another baby boom isn’t coming anytime soon.
The latest round of US birth data, released earlier this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, show the general fertility rate has dropped to a new record low of 53.1 per 1,000 females between 15 and 44 — a 23 percent decrease since the most recent peak in 2007.
It’s the latest data point in a long global trend toward fewer children, which means our already aging populace will get even older over time, with fewer young workers to handle the economy and take care of the elderly in their twilight years. About one in eight Americans were over the age of 65 at the turn of the millennium; by 2040, it will be nearly one in five.
Elliot Haspel is a Senior Fellow at Capita.