Re: Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born
 

However we do need to panic about the ageing population in this country. Lots of old people with no one to care or pay taxes to support them. Young immigrants will also have got the message that they're more welcome elsewhere.

Re: Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born
 

The ever increasing retirement age is another attempt at 2+2=5

It reduces the pension payout, at the cost of removing an employment opportunity for someone younger, while increasing unemployment benefit costs.

The elderly working longer can also lead to a risk of increasing health issues, with possible hospital care and an increase in sickness payouts, not to mention disruption to employers.

There is of course the other viewpoint . . . the longer you work, the less chance you have of actually reaching retirement age . . . probably financially rewarding for spouses, but I'm not keen myself ;)

Re: Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born
 

So this basically means that populations in "developed" countries is going to dramatically fall...

Populations in "developing" countries will probably continue to rise due to the lack of contraception, education etc which let's be honest, isn't going to change in the next 80 years.

Then we'll all just get out bred.

Re: Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born
 

Who knows there might be a global pandemic to reduce the population between now and then.

Re: Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born
 

I stand ready to get the equipment out of mothballs if helps save the human race:naughty:

Re: Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born
 

well it had better be a bit more fatal than the current one, which has wiped out a massive 0.000125% of the global population

0.00115% approx 10 time more people die each year from starvation.

Re: Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born
 

It’s early days yet. The vast, vast majority of people haven’t been infected yet. The “herd immunity” crowd reckon we need about 4 billion infections with no lasting immunity guaranteed. Longer term health implications, is a second infection worse than the first? So many ways this could go, especially in the developing world.

So many questions up in air I’d refrain from such pessimism (or optimism?) around the total impact.

Re: Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born
 

Whenever this happens the economists come to the politicians and say, "we need to either cut state pensions or have more immigration" and the politicians say "more immigration".

Re: Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born
 

Essentially though the problem is running the economy like a pozni scheme extracting future revenues (privatisation for example) and spending it today.

Re: Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born
 

That's because the need is now. Or at least the perceived need. The issue happens because demand is higher than expected sometimes because people think it's their right to get <fill in> where the system maybe didn't have <fill in> when designed or budgeted.

Re: Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born
 

The vast Majority wont die from it if/when they catch it.

Re: Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born
 

Re: Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born
 

When we have destroyed planet Earth then birth control will not be an issue. I say it is good that birth control is shrinking.

Re: Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born
 

I have a sneaky feeling that 'Mother Earth' knows what's happening, and is in the process of resolving the issue ;)

Re: Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born
 

I like the way the media just creates contradictory headlines. One minute it is complaining about too many people taking up resources and contributing to climate change, and when it is clear that the population of the world has started to decrease, that is suddenly bad news.

We cannot have an ever increasing population on this planet. It is a good thing that the size of families is decreasing.

It is true that the governments of the world need to work out how to manage this population decrease to ensure that there is not a demographic emergency such as not having enough younger people to look after the elderly, not enough talent to take over when skilled managers retire, etc. But it is definitely not bad news.