Any population which is not growing at a slow but steady rate is subject to predictable economic difficulties. A population which is shrinking is unstable.
Interestingly, a shrinking population is also harmful to the planet. Environmentally sustainable practices are not possible in a community whose demographics skew away from statistical pattern sometimes called the ‘population pyramid’ graph.
The pyramid shape of the graph indicates that there are more middle-age people than old people, and more young people than middle-age.
Describing the harm which low birth rates are causing in Korea, Patrick Buchanan writes:
In 2050, the median age of South Koreans will have risen from thirty-eight today to fifty-four and a third of all South Koreans will be over sixty-five, an immense burden of retirees for the working population to carry. “Korea may lose out in the global economic competition due to a lack of manpower,” Health Minister Jeon Jae-hee told the Korea Times. “It is actually the most urgent and important issue the country is facing.”
Children and young people are the most valuable resource a nation has. Parents are stewards of the country’s future.
If a society fails to provide a nurturing and stable environment in which men and women marry, form loving and lasting homes, and raise an average of between two and three children per couple, then that society is simply dying out.
