La Vie Childfree

Thank goodness we are seeing smart pieces shooting holes in Jonathan Last’s recent baby bust scares. John Seager, President of Population Connection, does just that in a recent post on sustainablog.org. What does he think of Last’s contention that if we don’t get birthrates back up we’re in for a “spiral toward doom?” Seager characterizes it as the “perfect articulation of Ponzi demography – Check it out… (more…)

I hope you had a listen to the segment, “Not Having Kids Bad for the Economy?” on the NPR show Tell Me More I was part of this week.  Host Michel Martin had read the recent piece by Harry Siegel and Joel Kotkin on thedailybeast, “Where Have All the Babies Gone,” and was interested in talking more about it as well as the childfree choice, which the piece focused on as a less than positive effect on current demographic trends.  Here’s a few post show thoughts: (more…)

After seeing Jonathan Last in the media this week talking about his new book, What to Expect When No One is Expecting, the childfree will likely not be swayed by his reasons why we need to have to more babies to sustain our economic success. But if you run across someone who is, as Loretta (Cher) says to Ronnie (Nicolas Cage) in the movie, Moonstruck – tell him/her to snap out of it! (more…)

Worldwatch Institute is one smart organization, and each year, puts out a State of the World report.  This year’s report is titled Moving Toward Sustainable Prosperity. There is an excellent chapter on population stabilization by the Institute’s President Robert Engelman called, “Nine Population Strategies to Stop Short of 9 Billion.” Check it out. (more…)