America just had its lowest number of births in 32 years, report finds

Re:America just had its lowest number of births in 32 years,... by mwfunk on Wednesday May 15, 2019 @10:16AM (#19919574)

I’m completely drawing a blank as to why people having fewer children would be a bad thing for anyone, aside from the Idiocracy scenario. I can think of all kinds of reasons why it would be a good or neutral thing, but I can’t think of any downsides.

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Re:America just had its lowest number of births in 32 years,... by magduf on Wednesday May 15, 2019 @10:34AM (#19919773)

When there's more retirees and elderly people than younger workers to support them, how do you think our economic systems are going to survive?

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Re:America just had its lowest number of births in 32 years,... by hedora on Wednesday May 15, 2019 @10:52AM (#19919963)

Automation continues to reduce the fraction of people that need to work.

Also, we won’t need nearly as much new construction, which frees up a ton of workers.

I don’t think an aging population is likely to lead to labor shortages any time soon, at least in the US.

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Re:America just had its lowest number of births in 32 years,... by rpiguy on Wednesday May 15, 2019 @11:07AM (#19920111)

No one is talking about a labor shortage! The problem is a consumer shortage. Automation only makes it worse.

Aging population with a shrinking population means less people to buy goods. Automation means less people employed. This is bad for growth. Economic expansion requires increases in production and consumption.

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Re:America just had its lowest number of births in 32 years,... by masonic on Thursday May 16, 2019 @04:54AM (#19927264)

By keeping older adults working and stopping age discrimination.

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