Western Nations TAKING ACTION ON DECLINING BIRTH RATES

For Years, Elon Musk has consistently argued that one of the greatest threats to civilization is collalapsing Birt Rates.

The Billionaire Ceo Believes That Declining Fertility Could Hollow Out Economies, Weaken Workforces, and Leave the West Unable to Sustain ITSELF.

In an x ​​post last week, he wrote: “Low birth rate is the number one thread to the West. There will be no west if this contingent.”

In august, musk amplified a warning from political commentator my pool, who wrote: “The population isn’t ‘collapsing’ – it has collapsed. Musk Reposted it, Adding: “i’ve Been Warning About This Since the Turn of the Century.”

Now, Governments in Europe and the US Taching Steps to Combat Falling Birth Rates, and Introducing Police to Encourage People to have more children – from Tax breaks and family allowances to Longer leave and subsidized childcare.

While musk has been a vocal advocate for increasing BIRTH RATES, DEMOGRAPHERS TOOLD BUSINESS INSIVE THAT ITH IT DECONDARY APPONSONSIBLE FOR GOVERNMENTS TAKING ACTION.

A WAVE OF PRO-NATAL Police

In France, President Emmanuel Macron Has Called for A “Demographic Rearmament.”

In July, His Government Predged to Replace the Current Low-Paid Parental Leave with a New, Better-Paid “Birth Leave.” This Waled Offer SEVERAL MONTHS OF LEAVE AROUND HALF SALARY, CAPPED at € 1,900, around $ 2,200 a month.

That Same Month, Spain Passed A New Family Law Extending Paid Maternity and Paternity Leave to 17 Weeks, while Some Regions, Including the Capital Madrid, Expanded Their “Baby Check” programs.

Italy is Leaning on Financial Incentives: Since Janary, Moters of Two or More Children Have Qualified for LifeMetime Payroll Tax Breaks, and Families Can Access Zero-Interest “LOANS, Alongside Child Allowance.

Hungary Extended Its Own Policy in January, Granting LifeMetime-Incom-Tax Exemptions to Moters of Two or More Children.

Eve the uk, typically cautious about family subsidies, launched one of its mos out environmental -ears reforms in decades: Starting in september, parants of children as nine months will be eligible for 30 hours of free childcare a Week.

Meanwhile, The US PASSED A FEDERAL PACKAGE IN JULY EXPANDING FAMILY TAX CREDITS AND CREATING NEW SAVINGS ACCOUNTS UNDER The Banner of the “Working Families Tax Cut.”

‘Musk and Some Other Commentators have Only Made the Issue More Visible’

AS Governments Step Up Pro-Natatist Measures, Demographic Experts Told Business Insider IT WOULD BE A MISTAKE TO SEE MUSHER AND OTHER TECH AS DRIVERS OF SHIFTS.

“Concern with Low Rates is nothing new and Certainly Nothing Anyone in the Tech World, and Certainly Not Musk, Should Get Any Credit for Originating on,” Said Ronald Lee, Founding Director of the Economics and Demography of Aging.

He notd that property property police were already widespread in Europe and east asia decadees ago, while the US Social Security System was overhauled in the Early 1980s with aging in mind.

Thomas Sobotka, Deputy Director at the Vienna Institute of Demography, Made a Similar Point.

“This is not a new topic Among Researchers and Many Policemakers,” He Said, Citting France’s Family Benefits Dating Back to the 1930s and Japan’s Interventions in the 1990s.

“Musk and some other commentators have Only made the willse more visible – and, regretFully, Also more politely polarized.”

Wolfgang Lutz, Founding Director of the Wittgenstein Center for Demography and Global Human Capital, Was more Blunt: “Tech Like Elon Musk May Be Experts in Their Fields, but they are not experts in demographry. vague conjectures Rather than scientific reasoning. “

The Chorus Grows

Other Tech Leaders have echoed Musk’s Concerns.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has gone nor to finish free ivf Treatments at a Moscow Clinic for Women Using His Sperm.

In a july 2024 telegram post, he Called Declining fertility “an increasingly Serious willldwide” and urged his followers to “Defy Convention – Redefine the Norm!”

Sam Altman, CEO of Openai, has invested in reproductive-tech startups, Including Conception, which is Developing Ways to Extend Fertility and Event Two Men to Have Biological Children.

An uncetain fix

Whether the flurry of new incentives will actually reverse the trend is far from Clear. Fertility Rates Across the Developed World Have Been Below Replacement Level for Decades, Driven by High Costs, Dalayed Parenthod, and Cultural Shifts.

Experts Note That Lavish Programs in South Korea, Japan, and Hungary have failed to reverse declining Birth Rates.

Lee Said Eve Scandinavia’s Geneerous Parental Leave and Childcare Systems have not prevent fertility from Falling. “Financial incentives are Mostly absurdly Small relative to the cost of a child,” he said, adding that hungary about 5% of gdp annually on pro-birth measures with little result.

Sobotka Said Governments Can’t Fully Offset the Costs and Personal Trade-Offs of Childbearing, Though Well-Designed Police Can Still Help Parents Realize Family Family and Lift Fertility Modestly.

“Altogether, these Packages of Family Police Can Boost Fertility Rates in the Order of Up to 0.2, Maximum 0.3 Children per Woman,” He Said.

Lutz was skeptical. He argued that while family support programs are valuable for child well-being, their impact on fertility is marginal at best and could backfire if they flush out of the workforce.

Anna Rotkirch, Research Director at the Population Research Institute in Helsinki, Pointed to Estonia As an Example Where Expanded Family Police in the 2000s Initially Boosted and Third Births But Ultimately Stem a Collaps in Firmts Over the past decade.

“We Need New and Boldings Solutions,” She Said, “Which Also Have to Come From Employers, City Planners, and Society at Large – Not JUST POLITICians.”

In the us, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Director of the Carolina Population Center, argued that the modest measures being discussed Will Likely Not “Budge” BIRTH RATES THEY DON’T TACKLE The Main Barries American Parents: Expensive Housing, Unafordable Childcare, and the Absence of Paid Leave.