Who Needs Kids, Right? Oh Wait... We Do!

Think back to a time when you were in grade school and a friend found out you were crushing on a cute kid in your class. Their natural reaction was to sing the rhyme, "(Name) and (Name), sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage." Let's focus on the last part of the rhyme; then comes baby! When you were younger did you ever have an ideal number of kids you wanted? I come from a larger family, and so I've always wanted a bigger family. I grew up hearing that the population is growing exponentially, and if it continues to rise like this, then the world will run out of resources. This rumor needs to be put to rest!

Yes, it is true that the population is growing at an exponential rate; for now. Recently, parents have been having few and fewer children, yet the population keeps rising. How is this possible? Modern medicine! Thanks to the efforts of modern medicine and science, elderly people are living longer. As wonderful as this is, it creates a major issue. With less people being born, and more people living longer, it will eventually cause a dramatic decrease in the world's population. This issue brings along a lot more problems with it. One major one is social security. Who is supposed to support social security, when we have more elderly people than younger working citizens? In order to maintain a population (fertility rate), couples need to have an average of 2.13 children. The United States averages around 2.01 children (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2127rank.html). This doesn't seem like a huge problem, but in other countries (whose rates are significantly lower than the needed 2.13 children) they will  suffer from a major decrease in their population. If the fertility rate doesn't increase, those countries will eventually run out of people!

Interesting fact: If every couple decided to have only one child, you would have no extended family within four generations. What if your parents and grandparent die? You'd be all alone. A very depressing thought, huh? It reminds me of the scene in Megamind when he has defeated Metro Man and supposedly has everything he ever wanted. With nobody else to try and defeat him, he finds himself lonely and wanting a new challenge. Megamind asks, "Without him [Metro Man], what's the point? Nothing!". 

What's the Point?

 

Without any family, what's the point? Children are essential to our lives and our futures. It is a very personal decision that couples need to discuss together. Being able to have children is a beautiful gift, don't squander it!

“Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body”- Elizabeth Stone

Additional information

-Demographic Winter