The United States faces demographic challenges. A rise in suicides, especially for the young, and in drug overdoses, has contributed to an ominous drop in life expectancy for the first time in a century. The employment rate for men of laboring age also is low.

Working couples have less time for children. One child families now are common. Raising a child is expensive. Higher education and medical costs can swamp families with debt.

Nicholas Eberstadt, at the American Enterprise Institute, explores the relationship between a country’s population growth and its power in “With Great Demographics Comes Great Power.” (Foreign Affairs, July/August 2019)

He suggests China’s rise is due in part to its large population. Close to 1 in 5 people in the world today are Chinese. Yet China’s demographic advantage may change due to the aftermath of the now abandoned one child policy of past years. It appears that China’s birth rate has dropped below replacement level.

While the birth rate in the United States is falling, many Americans view immigration with disfavor. In the past, even when our birth rates fell, immigration made up some of the loss. Now even that is in doubt.