Ruth Institute Blog

by Denyse O’Leary

Glib answers will not conjure away the hard, cold fact that workers everywhere are getting older and older.

In a recent piece, I talked about how increasing longevity was affecting technologically advanced societies in ways that only occasionally come to the surface. Pope Benedict broke with tradition by resigning due to advanced age, for example, rather than dying in office. Popes of old didn’t usually live long enough to face the problem. Read more…

by Marcus Roberts

The challenge for Western countries in the short to medium term is that the number of workers that they have to support their economies (and social support networks) is declining or set to decline. We’ve banged on about this challenge here at Demography is Destiny for a while now.  According to a report in the Economist, not only will an aging population eventually result in fewer workers, but as those workers age they will also be less productive.    Read more…

by Michael Cook

We’ve all read about “American exceptionalism” – the idea that America is great because it is different. Because of a unique combination of historical, sociological, religious and political factors, it offers something special to the world. Read more…

by Marcus Roberts

…So a brief blogpost today on one of the more utilitarian reasons that I have heard for abortion/contraception – it saves money. As Keith Riler in First Things blogs:

“As states seek to balance budgets, population planning groups are touting abortion and contraception as money-saving measures. According to their crude calculus, Medicaid-paid births to poor mothers strain the social safety net and must be reduced. Read more…

Marcus Roberts

Just to follow up yesterday’s blog/rant, there is an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal by Philip Bowring arguing that the likely changes to China’s one-child policy will not make much difference to China’s low fertility rate.  In short, China faces demographic problems that will continue even if the one-child policy is lifted. The reason why it is expected that some relaxation will occur of the one-child policy (if not its abolition) is the noises that were made publicly during the National People’s Congress: Read more…

by Jennifer Roback Morse

At last, a book on demography that talks about its relation to sexual culture.

I was talking with a Catholic college student who is enrolled in a graduate level demography class on fertility at a major state university.  She said that when her classmates make snarky remarks about “those Catholics” and their large families, the whole class nods knowingly in agreement. Read more…

by  Scott Yenor, who will be a presenter at Ruth Institute’s ITAF 2013.

This article was first published at The Public Discourse on February 26, 2013.

Jonathan Last’s new book attributes population decline and the birth dearth to two trends that started in the Enlightenment era—first, an effort to limit death; second, an effort to control birth. Both trends are guided by a desire to control nature. Read more…

by Carolyn Moynihan

South Korea has a reputation for economic dynamism and top-notch women golfers, but there is at least one thing it is not doing very well these days: looking after its elderly citizens. Asian family values built on Confucianism are breaking down under the pressures of a highly competitive society focused on economic performance and personal success. Read more…

by Shannon Roberts

This week I recommend you to an interesting interview conducted by John Rosen on the Wall Street Journal website with the author of a new book called “What to expect when no one’s expecting”. You can find it here. The author, Jonathan Last, succinctly summarises many of the challenges facing the world as a result of low birth rates. We only have to look like countries like Greece to see that we can’t afford entitlements, for example, without a young working population paying taxes. The article puts it well: Read more…

by Carolyn Moynihan

Last month while we were still getting organised after the holidays, the well-known US organisation Child Trends released a very informative report on families around the world. The World Family Map is the first annual report from a project which involves a number of collaborating institutions around the world, and it is helpful in understanding some of the larger forces shaping families and the welfare of children. Read more…