birth rate

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Couples Rattled by Recession Delay Kids

Babyies too expensive in shrinking economy

(Newser) - Baby booms and busts have long been reliable economic indicators, so it's no surprise that couples facing layoffs and a tough housing market are holding off on pregnancies. Pricey fertility clinics are the first to feel couples' hesitation to reproduce. The magnitude of the economic affect on the American population...

Japanese Women Dodge Men ISO Mommies, Stay Single

Plunging birth rate causes national alarm

(Newser) - "WANTED: Female to cook, clean, wash my socks, bear and raise my children, and generally enable my workaholism—all while maintaining your own career in a sexist environment." Sound good? Given the choice, many Japanese women are saying to heck with marriage and staying single, reports the Washington ...

Record US Births Top Boomer Peak
Record US Births Top Boomer Peak
Jul 18, 2008 4:46 AM CDT

Record US Births Top Boomer Peak

Fertility is lower but larger population adds up to baby bumper crop

(Newser) - More Americans were born last year than in any other in history, reports ABC News. The 4,315,000 bundles of joy even top the Baby Boom at its peak. The expanding population is expected to put more pressure on scarce resources, but all those new taxpayers will help foot...

In Japan, Elders Outnumber Kids

Too many senior citizens, not enough children means trouble ahead

(Newser) - Monday was Children’s Day in Japan, but the holiday has a bitter irony in a land where the number of children has been waning for 27 years. Kids account for only 13.5% of Japan’s population, while the elderly make up 22%, the Washington Post reports.

China Hangs Onto 1-Child Policy
China Hangs Onto 1-Child Policy
Mar 10, 2008 6:16 PM CDT

China Hangs Onto 1-Child Policy

Country fears growth boom if rule is rescinded

(Newser) - China will keep up its one-child policy over the next decade as nearly 200 million citizens reach child-bearing age, CNN reports. "Given such a large population base, there would be major fluctuations in population growth if we abandoned the one-child rule now," said the country's family planning minister,...

China May Drop 1-Baby Law
China May Drop 1-Baby Law
Feb 29, 2008 7:32 AM CST

China May Drop 1-Baby Law

Officials want more girls, but fear triggering baby boom

(Newser) - China, faced with an aging population and too few women, may end its controversial one- child-per-family policy. The law that allowed urban couples only one child and rural families two is credited with preventing 400 million births over three decades. But cultural preferences for males has also created a troubling...

'06 a Mini Baby Boom for US
'06 a Mini Baby Boom for US
Jan 16, 2008 10:38 AM CST

'06 a Mini Baby Boom for US

4.3M births highest in 45 years, go against trends in industrialized world

(Newser) - The US experienced a mini baby boom in 2006, with the largest number of children born since the 1960s. The AP reports 4.3 million births that year, giving the US a higher birth rate than Europe, Australia, Canada, or Japan. Hispanics accounted for a quarter of all US births,...

South Korea Bounces Reign of Baby Boys

Girls find new favor as sex imbalance begins to reverse

(Newser) - Shedding an age-old preference for sons, South Korea has in the last two decades become the first Asian country to reverse a large sex imbalance at birth. A radical shift in Koreans' attitude toward female babies—and toward working women—has brought down the rate of sex-selection abortion, the New ...

In Japan, Robots Tackle the Dirty Work

As workforce shrinks, machines gain favor over immigrants

(Newser) - With the birthrate sinking and the government showing no inclination to loosen immigration restrictions, Japanese businesses are turning to science for help with the impending worker shortage. The London Times visits a Tokyo exhibition that showcases the possible answer: robots. "Robots do the D-work"--dirty, dangerous, and difficult--"that...

Russians Get Holiday to Multiply
Russians Get Holiday to Multiply
Aug 15, 2007 5:38 PM CDT

Russians Get Holiday to Multiply

Couples get day off nine months before country's national day

(Newser) - The Ulyanovsk region of Russia will give its citizens a day off to procreate—nine months before Russia's national day of June 12; couples whose children are born on that day can even win prizes. The Russian population has been dropping since the early 90s, and President Putin has called...

Singapore Blossoms into Major City
Singapore Blossoms into Major City
May 27, 2007 8:00 AM CDT

Singapore Blossoms into Major City

Stern Asian capital set to emerge as a tourist haven filled with casinos, hotels, and amusement parks

(Newser) - Singapore is transforming itself from a dull metropolis famous for its draconian cleanliness into an exciting, vibrant, tourists' paradise, Time reports. Plans are percolating for casinos, skyscrapers, amusement parks, and a multi-billion dollar residential and commercial real estate development located downtown.

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