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The Population Implosion:
Why we aren't having babies
October 23, 2026
kuenzel ROOM
The michigan union
6 to 9 PM
In the past when human populations declined, it was the result of some calamity: pandemics, wars, natural disasters. Today it is different. Global health and wealth have improved, and yet we are are marching toward a global pattern of population contraction, insufficient to sustain stable global population. That is entirely new. We are on a march - apparently unstoppable - to planetary below-replacement fertility. Populations are contracting throughout all East Asia.
People are choosing not to have children. Financial incentives to benefit natalism have been largely nsuccessful suggesting that reasons for this phenomenon are prmarily existential.
Lyman Stone
Senior Fellow, Director of the Pronatalism Initiative
Institute for Family Studies
Charlottesville, Virginia
Further reading
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Bethany Mandel. How babies are made. The Tablet, June 13, 2024
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Roy Greep. The population crisis is here. Ekistics, April 1968
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Paul Sabin. Chapter 6: Betting on the future of the planet, In: The Bet: Paul Ehrlich, Julian Simon, and our gamble over Earth's future. Yale University Press, 2013
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Roger Pielke. The global fertility crisis is worse than you think. AEI Center for technology, science and energy. June 16, 2025
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Brad Wilcox. Get married young. Compact Magazine, February 11, 2026
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​Rachel Minkin, et al. The experiences of US adults who don't have children. Pew Research Center, July 25, 2024
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Emma Waters. Pro-natalism is not enough. The Heritage Foundation, August 28, 2024
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Bella DePaulo. The main reason why fewer people are having kids. Psychology Today, July 27, 2024.
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Marc Novikoff. The birth-rate crisis isn't as bad as you've hard: it's worse. The Atlantic, June 30, 2025
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Jesus Fernandez Villaverde. Rapid fertility decline is an existential crisis. American Enterspirse Institute, February 11, 2025
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Nicholas Eberstadt. Demography & World Power: Interview & References. Council on Foreign Relations, Novermber 7, 2023
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Helen Coffey. The truth about why we stopped having babies. The Independent, September 2, 2024
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Alvin Powell. How to reverse nation's declining birth rate, Harvard Gazette, August 20,2025
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Benjamin Chait. Demographic decline appears irreversible: How can we adapt? Progressive Policy Institute, September 16, 2025
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Ryan McMaken. Why "pro-family" government programs don't increase fertility rate. Mises Institute, November 20, 2025
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​Melissa S. Kearney & Philip B. Levine. The causes and consequences of declining US fertility. The Aspen Institute, July 2022
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Jonathan Abbamonte. US fertility is declining due to delayed marriage and childbearing. The Heritage Foundation, March 4, 2025
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Lyman Stone. Declining fertility in America. American Enterprise Institute, December 2018
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Brad Wilcox & Michael Pugh. The geography of fertility: Where are the babies? Deseret News, October 30, 2024
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Lisa Britton. Wilcox is right: A warning from a woman who waited too long. Institue for Family Studies, March 23, 2026
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Chelsea Follett. No, prosperity doesn't cause population collapse. The Hill, June 16, 2025​​​​​
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​Carol Clark. Conspicuous consumption may drive fertility down. eScience Commons. Emory University, March 28, 2016​​​
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Audio & VIDEO resources​
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Jesus Fernandez Villaverde. On the quandary of global demographic decline. Mercatus Center Podcast. George Mason University, March 9, 2026
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Nicholas Eberstadt. Demography & World Power. Council on Foreign Relations, November 2023
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Podcast with Peggy O'Donnell Heffington: Why are women saying no to having kids? UChicago News, September 5, 2024
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Lyman Stone et al. PloughCast 33: the case for more babies. The Plough, July 12, 2022​
This event is co-sponsored by
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