[3] A similar, earlier piece in Jacobin comes to the same conclusion, although it first dismantles some common capitalist concerns about the birth rate. The birth rates are their object of focus, and policies will not raise them. Sustained low fertility would also mean an end to an alleged sure-bet driver of macrolevel economic growth: a growing population. This simplistic thinking is unfortunately common to analyses of how low birth rates are going to change society. The tendency toward oversimplification also holds for economic arguments advanced about low birth rates.

Source: International New York Times March 27, 2026 13:52 UTC