Julia Gleason

Part 01

 How did the book, The Population Bomb, and subsequent assumptions influence common views
regarding population growth? How widespread were/are these views?

 People assumes population will continue to increase, which will lead to overpopulation.

 What evidence do we have for the fulfillment of Dr. Ehrlich’s predictions?

 In 1950, the Baby Boom happened, seeming to confirm that we would run out of
resources for everyone eventually.

Define

 Population: “The total of people living in a region”

 Birth rate: ‘Births per thousand people born in a population during a year”

 Fertility rate: Average number of children born over the lifetime of the average woman”

With which numbers ought we to concern ourselves and why?

The population fertility rate, because it states the actual data of whether we will have overpopulation
or not.

The Baby Boom

 What was the “baby boom” and what have been some of the results?

 Society thought that people began to have a lot more kids, causing the population to
drastically increase. In America, there were 77.3 million new babies. In reality, people
began to live a lot longer, and women had about 3.7 children on average.

 How long does it take a population with sub-replacement rates to actually decline?

 About one generation

 How was Japan different from the rest of the boom experienced around the world?

 Because WWII was so harsh on Japan, the didn’t experience a baby boom, unlike every
other developed country.

 How do media influence perceptions of world population growth/decrease? Cite at least one
example.

 They only tell half of the story; the increase in population, not the decrease to follow.
For example, in 2009 the United Nations said that in 2050 the world population will be 9
billion, but they failed to show that soon after the population will fall again.
  What reasons were cited by interviewees for having few children?

They can’t afford it

They want their children to have more opportunities

Societies views

Not enough resources

Human Capital

 What is Human Capital, and how does that factor into the results of decreased fertility rates?
Who is affected by having fewer children in the world or in a given community?

 Human Capital are the abilities that people are able to use in business. If there are less
people, there is less human capital and the economy can’t grow as fast. Everyone is
affected because we will need to work more to make up the difference.

 How will immigration change as a result of the decline in births?

 Immigrants will make up most of the population because the rest of the population will
not provide enough workers for the economy. Eventually the nationalities will die out.

 Has this ever happened before?

 This happened in accident Rome and many sub-nationalities of the Romans died out.

 What about Mexico? There will always be a lot of people eager to come here from Meso-
America, right?

 No, their population is declining, so there will not be enough people after their countries
jobs have been filled to come work in America.

 Explain how the housing market could be expected to change drastically in the past few years,
even without a precipitating change in the economy?

 There will be too many expensive houses in the market for younger generations to buy.
The market will be disrupted.

Part 02

 What tendencies did you hear in the street interviews, with regards to choices about child
bearing?

 People say they don’t need large families, or thy are undecided. They say it is not
“modern” to have many children.

 Why did fertility fall in the first place? List 4 specific trends or “revolutions” noted by the
program. What overarching tendency is credited with the overall fertility trends? What do you
think of that assessment?
  Since the Industrial Revolution, children cannot work as much as they cost now.
(Prosperity)

 Women spent more time working rather than raising children. (Women’s Revolution)

 Birth control was approved by the FDA. (Sexual Revolution)

 Many more people are getting divorced triggered by an introduction of no-fault

divorces. (Divorce Revolution)

All of these causes are connected to individualism, which caused decreases in fertility
trends. People focus a lot more on themselves are their rights.

 What are possible solutions?

 People will have to become less self-centered or have other driving forces to have
children, such as religion or economics.

 Several nations are offering significant cash incentives for couples—or at least women—to have
children. Why do you think these “bounties” are not working? What has contributed to slight
increases in fertility rates in several European countries?

 There are more factors than just money that effect people’s decisions to have children,
such as the 4 listed above and individualism. However, when family polices were put in
place, it has helped fertility rates a little, because families were strengthened.

 “The cradle of moral capital is the family.” What does that mean?

 If people teach their children to be morally responsible, they are more likely to becomes
so, but with the decline of healthy family relationships, sometimes those moral are lost
along the way.