What liberals get wrong about having kids

When it comes to the environment, overpopulation isn't the biggest problem

Only child
(Image credit: (Thinkstock))

Like the rest of the developed world, the birth rate in the U.S. has been falling for many years: in 2012, it was measured at an all-time low of 63.0 per 1000 women aged between 15 and 44. Without immigration, the birth rate alone would not be enough to replenish the U.S. population, and in many developed countries the population is shrinking. For example, Japan is on track to return to its 1950s-era population by 2050 or so, and from there it will continue to fall dramatically.

Liberals tend to celebrate these trends, or at least tacitly endorse them. Though overpopulation isn’t the huge bugaboo it was back in the '70s, it’s still generally regarded as a problem, not least because (so it is argued) a huge number of humans will naturally lead to a ruinous overtaxing of the Earth's resources. But there are two problems with this view.

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.