50 years ago, population scientists predicted steady population growth, writes ScienceNews. However, such a prediction, based on the 1970 census, does not exactly hold true today. While the U.S. population does continue to grow, it does so at an extremely slow rate. In recent years, the population growth rate has been 1 percent in the United States--with much of this coming from immigrants. From July 2019 to July 2020, the population growth rate dropped drastically to 0.35 percent, which is the lowest annual growth rate in over a century. While the population growth rate is elastic annually and will probably return to around 1 percent, scientists expect the trend of lower growth rates to continue in the United States.
Similarly, across the world in China, more and more couples are choosing to remain childless thanks to the increase in disposable income that comes with that, as well as the increase in freedom. Traditional ideas about family are changing in China, and as such, the economy is facing a future downturn as there will be less workers available to replace those leaving. The average number of people per Chinese household is now 2.6 (as of 2020), down from 3.1 in 2010. According to South China Morning Post, in the 80's the average number of people per household was as high as 4.5.
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