People are having fewer kids. Their choice is transforming the world's economy

[Dulcinea]

(NPR) Ashley and Nick Evancho say raising their 3-year-old, Sophia, is one of the most joyous things they've ever done. "Watching my daughter run around in the yard is otherworldly for me," Ashley said on a recent afternoon in their home in Grand Island, a suburb of Buffalo, N.Y.

But the Evanchos also made a decision that's increasingly common for families in the U.S. and around the world: One is enough.

"I don't need another one. I don't want another one. I love having only one child," said Ashley Evancho, who works as a financial planner.

Her husband, Nick, an Episcopal priest, agreed that big families make less sense in today's economy. "It really stacks the chips economically against you," he said.

https://www.npr.org/2025/10/27/nx-s1-5576355/population-babies-capitalism

[eppur_se_muova]

1. It's a hell of a lot better for the environment, too. nt

[Scrivener7]

4. Seriously. All this hand wringing over lower birth rates "because who will take care of us when we're old!!1!"

is really creepy. The last thing we need is more people.

[hlthe2b]

2. Yeah... If you want "multiples..." make it dogs, cats, or other household furry or feathered "child..."

[tblue37]

3. Both of my kids are one and done, so I have two granddaughters and that's it.

[GreatGazoo]

5. Article is a good overview but it could have gone deeper by looking

at countries and areas that have had this decline for the longest periods of time and how they are dealing with it. They correctly cite some effects in the USA as: causing many to work longer before retirement, making it harder for business owners to find employees and destabilizing eldercare and health insurance programs.

Italy has had the second lowest birthrate in the world for decades now. Rural towns are empty and the houses are falling apart. The birthrate continues to decline, now 1.13, but this must be multiplied by the decrease in the parent-age population. Some researchers cite this combination as leading to irreversible decline. South Korea is the world's lowest at 0.74, dramatically lower than Italy. This rate means that every 100,000 South Koreans will be replaced by only 37,000 in the next generation and those will be replaced by ~13,000; an 87% contraction in 2 generations. Life expectancy is 83YO so it easy to see the problem of having every 13 working aged people supporting 100 seniors.

Significantly, the headline says "choice", which has a distinct political meaning after the SCOTUS Dobbs ruling, but this ignores enormous drops in biological fertility which are seen in lower sperm counts and other stats. Everything from microplastics to marijuana have been cited as contributing to the drop. Studies show environmental factors are a cause. All of which seems to mean that the trend cannot be reversed by incentives or abortion bans.