Images (50)
दस्तावेज़
| id |
id
621037953
|
|---|---|
| contentType |
contentType
document
|
| source |
source
import
|
Source image fields (6)
Extracted text
OCR Page 1 of 50PAGE
2
13TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1999 News World Communications, Inc.
The Washington Times
February 10, 1999, Wednesday, Final Edition
SECTION: PART A; CULTURE, ET CETERA; Pg. A2
LENGTH: 895 words
HEADLINE: Population found dropping in U.S. and other nations;
Depopulation issue for 21st century, some experts say
BYLINE: Cheryl Wetzstein; THE WASHINGTON TIMES
BODY:
While a stellar lineup of delegates including first lady Hillary Rodham
Clinton spoke in the Netherlands this week on ways to reduce world population,
American social policy experts point out fertility rates are already falling
here and in dozens of other modern nations.
"The population issue of the 21st century is not going to be overpopulation,
but depopulation," says Allan Carlson, president of the Howard Center for
Family, Religion and Society in Rockford, Ill.
Mr. Carlson and others who worry about shrinking populations think modern
prosperity helps stifle fertility in a country where only 11 states, led by
Utah, had fertility rates of more than 2.1 children per woman. They say couples
who have disposable incomes, higher education, access to contraception and a
wife in the work force have interests that compete with raising children.
And, demographically speaking, "pregnancies delayed - to some extent - are
pregnancies denied, American Enterprise Institute scholar Ben Wattenberg wrote
in his book on depopulation, "The Birth Dearth."
In the United States, where 28 years of subpar fertility rates have been
offset by an influx of young immigrants, social policy experts worry about the
long-term consequences of anti-family and anti-marriage policies.
They say family growth - especially among married couples - could be
stimulated with tax policies that favor families who are raising children.
The country could also use a new national attitude that says children are
valuable to society and large families should be celebrated, Mr. Carlson says.
Workplace changes are also key, says Danielle Crittenden, author of "What Our
Mothers Didn't Tell Us: Why Happiness Eludes the Modern Woman."
A lot of American women who got jobs, married late and had children in their
30s now say, "They're getting the worst of both worlds," she says. "They're
trapped in their jobs, and then they go home and they're exhausted by the
demands of motherhood."
Mrs. Crittenden's advice? Follow Grandma's example and marry younger, have
babies sooner, and pursue a job after the children are in school. She
Relations
belongs_to