Children are the Future

Remember the lyric, "I believe that children are our future...." Unfortunately for America, it's true. I was shocked to learn recently that 58% of all first births in the US today are to unmarried women. And 83% of those mothers lack a high school diploma. Forty-one percent of all births are to unmarried women. Combine that with the fact that American children rank near the bottom academically among all industrialized countries. If children are the future we are facing serious problems. Of course it's not the kids' faults. I believe there are three reasons for this sad state of affairs: a culture that devalues traditional marriage, a government that incentivizes illegitimacy and an education system run for the benefit of teachers and administrators instead of children.

Population

Although you still hear a lot about over population, the real problem is just the opposite. Even the U.N. says that within 60 years +/-, the world population will start to decline. Ninety-seven percent of the worlds population lives in countries with declining birthrates. Even the U.S. would have a declining population right now were it not for immigration. And we can't depend on immigration for much longer. I believe we will never see another wave of immigration across the Mexican border like we saw between 1990 & 2005. Why? Because the economies of Mexico and many other Latin American countries are growing faster than ours while their fertility rates are rapidly declining. This means there will be plenty of jobs in those countries. So the problem isn't going to be too many people putting a strain on our resources. The problem is going to be too many old people and not enough workers to pay for costly senior entitlements. Another problem will be economic stagnation due to a lack of innovation. Look at who the innovators have been. Gates, Jobs, Zuckerberg, young people. Same as years ago, Ford, Edison. Fewer young people, less innovation, hence less economic growth. So stop worrying about overpopulation and start thinking about how to get people to make more babies. Yes, everybody know HOW, but we need the right incentives.