Will Children Defuse the De-population Bomb?

February 13, 2025

By: Jamie Towey

What an exhilarating, tiring, and tender last few weeks it’s been. At the end of January, my wife and I welcomed another son into the world, Nicholas. His two brothers at home are (mostly) thrilled to have a little brother, and we are (mostly) thrilled to have a hectic house of three terrors under the age of five. Sure, my poor wife probably feels like she’s living in a fraternity house with four guys versus one girl, but she’s tough!

With all my sons, I have been an amazed witness to the miracle of life. The immense responsibility of raising a child, teaching him the ways of beauty, truth, and goodness, frequently feels daunting, but then again, all parents have experienced frozen moments in time where deep appreciation at our unworthiness of the gifts entrusted to us overflows. Parents and grandparents are blessed.

Fatherhood As a Window into Aging

I’ve been thinking about my age during this new chapter of fatherhood. “Give it a rest!” I can imagine readers shaking their heads at the fact I’m only 32, but hear me out – holding a new life in my hands confronts me with the fact that I was once just like this. I couldn’t think, couldn’t reason, I didn’t even know who I was… and yet who besides the most hardened materialist could possibly say that wasn’t me? Indeed, the concept of self is a tricky thing – I often ponder the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Who am I? This or the Other? / Am I one person today and tomorrow another?”

It’s critical to grapple with these questions. They get at the core of what it means to be a person, to have dignity. It’s not our abilities that give us dignity. It’s not our autonomy, it’s not our utility. It’s the very fact that we are human. Nothing makes this clearer than holding a newborn to your chest, or looking into the eyes of a loved one suffering from dementia.

Children have always been a window into life’s mysteries, and in part that’s why societies have welcomed children into the world. My dear little Nicholas, unfortunately, is a statistical anomaly.

Not Many Babies…

I was reading an article online by Jesús Fernández-Villaverde on the massive decline in global fertility. I encourage you to read it. It paints a realist’s portrait of this depopulation bomb as “the most crucial economic issue of our time,” and raises a number of interesting points. But to me, the most concerning aspect of this coming plummet in global population is the impact it will have on the elderly.

The elderly as a share of the global population is set to increase by 50% over the next 30 years. 65 million Americans already are caregivers to someone in their family. Social Security and Medicare have been a hot topic of fiscal debate for decades. We don’t need to guess what will be proposed for American’s seniors: artificial intelligence (AI), assisted suicide, robots, and telehealth. The “right to die” promoted by suicide-affirming care advocates will become the “duty to die” for the vulnerable. AI and robots will help providers at all levels of healthcare cut costs and cut corners with their sick, disabled, and elderly patients. And telehealth will allow providers to “care” for patients without ever having to touch them.

To some, that paragraph reads as a manifesto on technological progress! But to me, it’s dystopian. Almost all cultures in human history have cherished their elders. Since the rise of Christianity 2,000 years ago, care for the downtrodden has been one of the differentiating features of Western culture. Our answer to these coming challenges must be more human contact, more human connection, more quality time.

Hope

And fear not, there is hope! In the midst of this downturn in births, I still see so many vibrant young families at my oldest son’s preschool and at our church. I see Gen Z kids striking back at the technocracy that Big Tech has forced on them by grasping for authentic connection. No challenge is too great for humans, so long as we recognize it and resolve to meet it.

So, let’s lead the way, let’s stave off these threats to dignity one hospital bed, and one crib, at a time.

(The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Aging with Dignity and/or its Board of Directors.)