Does America became a majority-childless community? A new Pew Research Center , study suggest , that unfortunately may be the situation. Such a course may include ominous effects on both our country and not just people.
When Pew asked Americans younger than 50 if they ever plan to include kids, 47 percent—one-half of those polled—said “no”. That’s away 10 percent from only five years earlier. In fact, of those younger than 50, 57 percent said they never wanted to have children, yet if they ended up doing so.
The reasons why? Pew writes:” No having children has made it easier for them to purchase the items they want, have occasion for hobbies and interests, and save for the future”. But what kind of potential do they plan to save? It’s going to be depressed, in my opinion.
The anti-child mentality, coupled with record-low fertility prices, is making the statement “demography is life” extremely accurate. As our nation gets older, we should all be concerned about this pattern.
Despite clear dangers to everyone’s economic and social security when the majority of adults do n’t marry and have children, when vice-presidential candidate J. D. Vance mentioned , the government should encourage marriage and families, he quickly faced harsh, mocking objections. But many people believe that doing so should be a non-partisan energy that surpasses politics and ideologies. I fully agree.
I have many friends who are assisting elderly parents in their 80s and 90s in their 50s and 60s. Although caregivers are difficult, my companions easily make the sacrifices they made to give their parents in life and ensure that they receive respect and dignity in their final days.
Those who are currently refraining from having children may enter their final years in 40 to 50 times. They wo n’t have devoted children to take care of them, visit them, and make sure they are treated well.  , If we think we have an epidemic of loneliness today, especially among older years, it will be on drugs in another half-century.
In contrast, it is now estimated that the Social Security Trust Fund, which relies on younger people to pay for those retiring, did run , dry , by 2034, resulting in benefit reductions of at least 20 percentage.
The Social Security Administration anticipated this in 2010, noting difficulties in its financial  record as a result of “birth prices falling from three to two children per woman.” Prior to now, there was a proportion of workers making money into the system to taxpayers making money out. That proportion has now dropped to about two-to-one. With perhaps fewer children in the future, the amount may decrease further.
It is not a coincidence that those older than 50 polled in the survey were extremely worried about having enough money ( 35 percent ), having someone to provide care for them ( 26 percent ), and being lonely ( 19 percent ). These trends will also contribute to our current issues with labor shortages and inflation because there are n’t enough young workers to fill the void created by retirees.
Today’s “lifestyle options” will be tomorrow’s “economic problems” as our nation ignores the bigger image while focusing more on self-gratification than the common good. We are whistling past a cemetery that will ultimately destroy us all economically and socially.  ,
Although it may seem wonderful when we’re younger, having the stuff we want, having an active social life, and succeeding in our careers finally catches up with us all. When it does, full and meaningful relationships become increasingly more important than material products, events, and career advancement.
As King Solomon wrote at the end of his career in Ecclesiastes 2,” I said in my center,’ Come then, I will check with pleasure: like yourself … I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Therefore, when I looked at all that my hands had done and the effort I had put in, I discovered that everything under the sun could be gained from it.
Maybe it’s time for our society to take the advice of Solomon and stop striving for self-gratification and arrogance and instead focus on what lasts. That includes families ‘ and children’s enduring generationsal ties. That will eventually give us some of the profound fulfillment we all seek, which is impossible to achieve by focusing on oneself.
Timothy S. Goeglein is the author of the book Toward a More Perfect Union: The Cultural and Moral Case for Teaching the Great American Story ( Fidelis, 2023 ). He serves as the vice president of Focus on the Family in Washington.
