The first paragraph in an article authored by Bill Frezza is disconcerting, to understate the level of concern it should cause. “If demography is destiny, democracy is toast-at least those democracies where citizens can vote themselves a living at someone else’s expense. It doesn’t take a mathematical genius to see that governments’ addiction to intergenerational income redistribution is not sustainable unless someone keeps supplying babies at an accelerating pace.”  The last sentence of the article is, “The problem with entitlement democracy is that you eventually run out of other people’s babies.” (I’m guessing this is a slight theft of Margret Thatcher’s famous quote that, “The problem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.)

The gist of the article is that we are facing a self-imposed financial disaster. “The root cause of the economic disaster that lies ahead is the kamikaze drive of democratic governments to displace the functions of the family, including the care of relatives in their old age.”

There is a problem with the proposition that more babies will be born and grow up to support the entitlement demands of older people. Young people in the wealthier countries are choosing to remain single and childless. Raising a family is expensive and difficult. The article says “…the family, and particularly children is often considered as something of an obstacle to the pursuit of happiness and self-fulfillment.” Women are deciding that “…spending time with their children ranks about the same as vacuuming on happiness scales.”

The article by Mr. Frezza (and I suggest reading the entire article at the link) is not the only one warning of the impending demographic crisis. A detailed study of the demographic problem led by Joel Kotkin describes the problem as “post-familialism.” That study indicates that the family no longer serves as the primary feature of society in the high-income world and some developing countries. The findings of the study indicate that a large number of individuals are forgoing marriage and child bearing even in countries such as Brazil and some Islamic countries. The result is a diminished labor and consumer base. That results in slowing of economic growth. Perhaps more importantly is that younger people drive technological change and fewer of them in the workforce results in less innovation. The one advantage the United States has is that people from other countries want to find a way to immigrate here.