Population crisis: Why the world might be getting too empty

Back in the 70s Paul Ehlrich made everyone scared that too many people would cause mass hunger; now we face the opposite issue - not enough babies being born. Professor Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde points out that younger people might see something unique: the worlds first population drop in thousands of years

The UKʼs situation dont look good: our birth rate dropped to just 1.44 kids per woman last year (down from 1.94 in 2010). Without new people coming in the country could lose 33% of its population in about 100 yrs - which means big trouble for pensions healthcare and taxes

Different sides have their own fix-it plans:

• Right-wing folks want more respect for moms and tax breaks
• Left-wing groups push for state-paid childcare and longer dad-leaves
• Both think making life cheaper will get more babies born

Looking at other places shows how hard this is to fix. South-Korea spent over 200-billion pounds since 06 on baby-making programs but still cant get results. Japan gives cash to new moms and pays for fertility stuff - yet its birth rate stays super-low at 1.2. Even Viktor Orbans huge family support program in Hungary isnt working

The real issue is bigger than money: women today have more choices education and freedom than ever before. They often pick careers travel and different life-styles instead of having lots of kids. Plus modern parenting (where kids are super-protected and need non-stop attention) makes it harder to want multiple children

Markets might help fix this mess - worker shortages could push up pay and speed-up tech development. But immigration isnt a magic solution: newcomers get old too and usually have fewer kids after moving. By 2080; South Korea would need 80% new people just to keep its numbers steady

Maybe we shouldnt panic though: before WW2 everyone thought population was dropping forever - then came a huge baby boom. Sometimes the experts get it wrong; maybe theyʼre wrong this time too