(Good News?) America is looking down the barrel of population collapse

[rcjordan]

"American birthrate is now just 1.7 children per woman, and without some change — cultural or political or both — this combination of forces means it will keep falling, quite possibly down to Korean levels^(1.4). At that point, our population would halve in about one human lifespan."

https://theweek.com/us/1007482/america-is-looking-down-the-barrel-of-population-collapse

[ergophobe]

Hopefully, the US will get immigration right. If we try to close our borders to the extent the Japanese do, there won't be anyone left to pay my Social Security checks ;-)

[rcjordan]

Our economy is currently built on population growth -but if we can adjust- then a number of our problems are greatly reduced.  Pollution, housing, demand for medical services --the list goes on-- drop in lockstep with population.  Taxation and funding for social programs will have to change, though.

[ergophobe]

>> housing

Homeowners: sell soon. Rent later?

[rcjordan]

^{Welp, humankind is doomed....}

Scientists have found an intense but short-term exposure to cannabis vapor lowered sperm counts and slowed sperm movement, or motility, not only in the directly exposed male mice but also in their sons.

Cannabis impacts sperm counts, motility in tw | EurekAlert!
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/936266

[ergophobe]

And here I thought it was caused by fluoride or feminism.

[rcjordan]

^{Found the problem...}

Partnered sex of all kinds declines in United States, Indiana University study finds
https://news.iu.edu/stories/2021/12/iub/releases/07-partnered-sex-declines-united-states.html

[ergophobe]

I clicked through because I was amused by the mention of "partnered sex." I didn't know there was another kind. But that was more interesting than I expected.

The proportion of adolescents reporting neither solo masturbation nor partnered sexual behavior increased from 28% of young men and 49% of young women in 2009 to 43% of young men and 74% of young women in 2018.

That is astounding. I might see it happening if there were some mass wave of religious fundamentalism, but as we know from the other thread, people are giving up religion and sex and masturbation.

Clearly, they must doing a lot of drugs instead, right? But no....
Substance use among teens dropped significantly in 2021, survey finds
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/15/health/substance-use-down-among-teens-wellness/index.html

But, sadly, overdoses are way up
https://drugabusestatistics.org/teen-drug-use/

They're obviously not hanging out with friends more than in the past, at least not since Covid.

They're not watching TV
https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/consumer-trends/teens-tv-consumption-statistics/

So what are they doing? Hmmm....

They are actually getting more active, or at least inactive teens are declining
https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/consumer-trends/teens-tv-consumption-statistics/

And of course social media.
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/05/31/teens-social-media-technology-2018/

[rcjordan]

India defuses its population bomb: Fertility falls to two children per woman | Science | AAAS
https://www.science.org/content/article/india-defuses-its-population-bomb-fertility-falls-two-children-woman

[ergophobe]

Male fertility is declining – studies show that environmental toxins could be a reason
https://theconversation.com/male-fertility-is-declining-studies-show-that-environmental-toxins-could-be-a-reason-163795

[rcjordan]

great chart of US population shift last year

Census Bureau: U.S. population growth falls to record low - Axios
https://www.axios.com/covid-population-growth-record-low-census-b0d47132-9d82-49f9-a31b-f91264610e0e.html

[ergophobe]

Some 44% of non-parents ages 18 to 49 say it is not too or not at all likely that they will have children someday, an increase of 7 percentage points from the 37% who said the same in a 2018 survey

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/11/19/growing-share-of-childless-adults-in-u-s-dont-expect-to-ever-have-children/

[rcjordan]

Will births in the US rebound? Probably not.
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2021/05/24/will-births-in-the-us-rebound-probably-not/

[Rupert]

Listing to an interesting discussion on BBC sounds.  Rethink:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08gt1ry

The one I am half way through is about populations, and how China and Japan in particular are approaching a population shrink.

[rcjordan]

Pope Scolds Couples Who Choose Pets Over Kids - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/06/world/europe/pope-pets-kids.html