A 0.4% increase from 2010 to 2011 means that only about 27,000 people were added to the Badger State.  Consider that this statistic includes people moving into the state and new baby Badgers, offsetting those we lost through moves and death.  Nationally, the growth rate was under 1%--.92%, the lowest rate of growth since the 1940s. 

Many will probably think the nominal population increase for Wisconsin and the nation is a good thing—especially those who believe in the myth of overpopulation.  They would be wrong.  Frankly, we should be alarmed.

Demographers have long told us that societies must maintain a birth rate of 2.1 children per woman in order to have a viable “replacement” rate. When societies fall below the 2.1 replacement rate, they are in danger of, well, extinction.  Of course before extinction, comes a host of other problems such as a work force shortage, taxpayer shortage, empty desks in school rooms, to identify a few very real concerns.

Russia provides a great example.  That country’s low birthrate and population crisis was so bad that in 2006, then-president Putin put in place a one-time $9000 incentive payment for couples to have a second child.

The monetary incentive has helped, but experts say such incentives tend to have more to do with the timing of child bearing than actually changing the number overall.  So, in the short-term the population situation has improved for Russia. However, it is very difficult to overcome the staggering consequences of, on average, seven abortions per woman in that country, which some believe approaches 4 million abortions per year. 

Put that figure with Russia’s fertility rate of 1.44 children per woman from 2005 to 2010, and it is no wonder that in 20 years, Russia’s population has decreased by over 5 million people.

Russia isn’t the only developed country where there is a demographic crisis.  The list of countries below the 2.1 replacement rate is staggering…the United States, Britain, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, and most Scandinavian countries to name a very few but certainly poignant examples.  

If it weren’t for population shifts by virtue of migration and immigration and longer life spans over most of the world, the effect of these dangerously low fertility rates would be felt much more keenly than they are right now. 

So where is Wisconsin in these statistics?  While we are very pleased that Wisconsin’s abortion rate has consistently fallen, we still kill over 7000 potential citizens each year through elective abortions.  In one way, as alarming as our abortions is our falling crude birthrate and live birth rate.  From 1960 to 2010, the number of live births in Wisconsin has fallen over 30%, and our crude birth rate has fallen over 50% over the same time period. 

Eventually, these statistics will catch up with us here in Wisconsin and around the country.  Work forces, taxpayers and the overall economy will be affected. Actually, they already are.

Social Security is a great example. In 1955 nearly 9 workers supported each person on Social Security. In 2010, according to the Social Security Administration, that number was 2.9—and in 2010, collected taxes were not enough to pay the scheduled benefits and the administrative costs.  The SSA anticipates that by 2029, the number of workers supporting each SS recipient will fall to 2.1.  Those figures directly reflect workforce.

These are population realities. The good news is we know the answer.  It’s marriage and child-bearing within marriage.  It’s men and women entering into a lifelong commitment of marriage and having children—building families, building the future.  That’s the message Wisconsin Family Council keeps giving.  We need more people to listen, believe, and act on what we and others are saying.  Otherwise, the next population report we get for Wisconsin could be even worse.

This is Julaine Appling for Wisconsin Family Council reminding you the prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”