Some Uplifting News

Do you remember when we sat in a dark closet, cloaked in a dark mood, suffocating in fear that the planet was speeding towards an overpopulation that would devour itself? I do. Which is why last week's Economist cover story made my day. The title read "How to deal with a falling population."

Huh? That wasn't supposed to happen. That's far too optimistic. For years I remember hearing about the dangers of overpopulation and the resulting scarcity in resources that would kill every living thing.

The article explains that for thousands of years the world's population steadily inched up until the industrial revolution, after which it quadrupled between 1900 and 2000. But now women around the world are starting to have fewer children than necessary to keep the population steady. It's estimated that the world's average fertility will fall below replacement by 2025. (But the population will still peak around 10 billion by mid-century.)

So now, and I still can't believe it, there is actual concern that the population will fall too much or too fast, which could pose problems for each country's workforce, and therefore their economies, not least of which includes paying for the care of their elderly.

After a biting remark about women choosing to "go clubbing" and "buy handbags" in their 20s instead of raising children, the article ends up recommending more support for working mothers, because "in societies which make breeding and working compatible, women tend to do both." This would be one solution to the problem of women having fewer babies. I'm all for that.

But for now, I'm just going to breath a sigh of relief for this one bit of good news. With all the other global bad news going on, it's a needed respite.