Fertility | A Global Catastrophe

Fertility is a problem faced by almost every developed country in the world. But the real problem is that no country has ever solved this problem. That means we don’t know the solution to this problem, which makes this problem more serious. Governments have spent billions of dollars on this issue, yet no good effect is observed.

Japan has faced this problem for decades. Last year, the birth rate in South Korea had reached a record low of 0.92, which implies a woman on average gives birth to 0.92 children throughout their lifetime. With such a low birth rate, the population will be halved in 50 years (or in a generation). We need at least a birthrate of 2.2 to keep the human population stable. Even many Indian states have a birth rate below 2.2. (I never thought this is true).

It is weird, in the last century, we fought against overpopulation. Now we are fighting against underpopulation.

Spending money does not affect increasing the population. No country has solved this problem by spending money. Some Nordic countries raised their birth rate to 1.6 by increasing the maternity leave to 1 year and granting male parents leave of absence up to eight months during childbirth to support the child after pregnancy. But the birth rate is not enough for a stable population even though the benefits take a toll on the government financially.

Photo by Bence Kiss-Dobronyi / Unsplash