Population loss (Unpublished “Letter to editor”, Mpls. Star Tribune 12–5–23)

The commentary “Is S. Korea’s shrinking population our future?”, December 5, begs the question, “why aren’t people in the United States having more kids?” There are of course, many reasons starting with costs, complications and commitments. I just read here in the Strib that health insurance costs will be increasing five to eight percent on top of an already five percent increase! The average healthcare benefit cost for employers runs anywhere from $15,797 to $24,000 depending on whether you work for a small or larger employer. Today, average annual out of pocket for employees is nearing $7,000 per year!

Inflation and daily living expenses have soared along with climate change making an impact on food prices, utilities and other household necessities. Heck, even this newspaper has hiked prices to nearly fifty dollars a month!

Also, relationships are fickle these days and people can’t count on each other like they used to, so why would a young person risk an unplanned pregnancy? Depending on which state one lives in, women are fearful of getting pregnant because they might be forced to birth an unwanted child. The ramifications of new stricter laws makes a couple apprehensive about starting a family and they are most certainly skittish about having unprotected sex, understandably.

Further, why would a married couple with one child have a second child who might increase the chances of added stress, higher costs and less ability to increase earnings?

Our culture and traditions admire a financially stable lifestyle where both parents work and marriage comes first before having children. How many people fall into this category? Recognizing that one’s life has to be in order before having a child makes it that much harder to even fathom becoming a parent.

One more thought that plagues the mind of young people is that the future of our planet looks bleak. Wars, global warming, the proliferation of guns and high crime rates threaten our communities solidifying the idea that the world is too unsafe to raise a child.

So, because our society discourages poverty and encourages a higher quality of life the priority of birthing and raising a child simply comes in last place!