Will ‘Population Dud’ Be The End Of Civilization As We Know It?
I & I Editorial Board
October 17, 2025
The “moral equivalent of war” is often used to elevate an otherwise non-threatening event into an existential threat. But today, the U.S. and indeed, all of Western civilization, faces a very real existential threat, one equal to war: the global collapse of fertility and families.
In country after country, the stark, awful news emerges on a nearly daily basis: birth rates are plunging as women disengage from traditional marriage and family life, and young men do the same.
The U.S. is no exception.
Last year, the U.S. fertility rate plunged to an all-time low of 1.6 children per woman, a rate roughly 24% below the 2.1 children required just to keep population from shrinking, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The details are grim: “Fertility rates declined for women and girls ages 15-34 between 2023 and 2024, remained unchanged for women ages 35-39 and rose for women ages 40-44, the data show.”
Worse, around the world, “Fertility is falling everywhere: rich and poor countries alike, booming and stagnating economies, secular and religious societies. The decline is happening far faster than anyone anticipated,” wrote economist Jesús Fernández-Villaverde, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, in a recent post on X.
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https://issuesinsights.com/2025/10/17/will-population-dud-be-the-end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it/
