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    Alabama faces a ‘demographic cliff’ as deaths surpass births
    Futurology

    Alabama faces a ‘demographic cliff’ as deaths surpass births

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    44 Comments

    1. Gari_305 on

      From the article

      >Alabama has seen more of its residents die since 2020 than the number of newborns welcomed into the state’s families over that same period.

      >

      Also from the article

      >Demographers say that nationally, deaths will overtake births in the U.S. by the year 2040.

      >But Alabama is already there. Dr. Nyesha Black, the director of demographics at the University of Alabama’s Center for Business and Economic Research, broke that news earlier this month, to the surprise of some, at the Alabama Economic Outlook Conference.

      >“People used to say in politics, ‘It’s the economy, stupid,’” Black said. “Now they can say, ‘It’s the demography, stupid.”

    3. fartiestpoopfart on

      oh no now how will they ever fill all those prisons they built with the covid relief funds

    5. malastare- on

      Why does this sub love posting these articles as if this was either important or troubling?

      Infinite population growth is not a great thing. Only capitalism and social security are based on the idea there will always be more people in the future, and I can’t be terribly bothered by waking both of those institutions up to the reality of the world.

      What am I missing? Is it racism? White supremacists also dislike dropping birth rates, but only in certain populations. Doesn’t seem to fit here. Maybe this is silly Christianity with the idea that we must keep multiplying? Dunno if that’s any better. Probably a decent amount of overlap.

      What else?

    6. Yellowbug2001 on

      Isn’t this true in most states at this point? The only thing propping up the US population as a whole is immigration.

    7. Saskstryker on

      Why do you think the right wing is trying so hard to control women, they are well aware of population decline and they are trying to give the pop a boost by limiting healthcare/sex information.

    8. Pulguinuni on

      I comprehend the concept of a region with a low birthrate and its long-term economic impact. What I don’t get is why be so forceful in attempting to resolve the issue, when the modern world is preparing to replace occupations with AI.

      AI is more than just automation; it is rapidly replacing jobs in restaurants/customer service, manufacturing, even health and beyond.

    9. Agitated_Ad6191 on

      Reddit loves these demographic statistics so it seems. But couldn’t it be that this is like a good thing eventually? The earth is overcrowded as it is. Earth can’t offer a sustainable future if humanity keeps on growing. So decline of the world wide population is actually a good thing. AI will offer the final blow for future generations as they decide not to have children. We will all find out what the consequences will be if most jobs will fall away, in the impact that will have on society.

    10. JorgeAndTheKraken on

      Everybody talks about economic impact as if our economic systems are fixed things that can never be reconsidered or changed. What the declining birth rate requires is a different way of thinking about the distribution of resources, which would be possible with imagination and political will.

      Then again, our human reaction to climate change has demonstrated that we prefer riding a broken system over a cliff to any sort of big swing reevaluation of our way of life, so…shrug emoji.

    12. Stylishbutitsillegal on

      Look, I would love to have kids. But it is too fucking expensive and I would not be able to provide for them. It would be irresponsible of me to have kids with my finances.

    13. SlashRaven008 on

      Why on earth would you have kids there? It’s risky for both mother and baby when ideology trumps healthcare, and when gynaecologists are literally leaving the state because they don’t want to take part in killing women it only becomes more unsafe with time.

      This is the prize republicans get for destroying women’s rights. No one wants to stay and bring up children where they will be harmed and indoctrinated. 

      Well done, residents. 

    16. um_chili on

      Is AL the first US state to have this trend? Birth rates have been declining for a bit so would be surprised if it hadn’t happened elsewhere first. Also relevant is the rate of people moving into the state. Even if Alabamians aren’t reproducing at a high rate, if enough people move there that would offset any decline.

    18. thehoagieboy on

      Everyone looking at population numbers in the USA knows that the group that we are losing the most of is the Baby Boomers. Even the name makes it clear why we are losing more than we are replacing. There was a BOOM of BABIES after the war and those folks are dying in higher numbers right now. Are these researchers scratching their heads trying to understand why we are not having another baby boom right now? Give it time and Generation X will be at that age. We were once referred to as the “baby bust” generation. I’m willing to bet that there will be more people born than die during those years…at least we’ll have a better chance than right now.

    19. Bagellllllleetr on

      It’s Alabama. Couldn’t possibly imagine why no one wants to move there to replace their aging pop. I suspect its neighbors will be following its example shortly.

    20. Philosophers_Mind on

      People are not having children for good reasons, they can’t afford the healthcare to be pregnant and then have the child, they can’t afford that childcare, besides why have kids if a parent is not going to be there, public education is indoctrinating now with Bible lesson and the 10 commandments, college is expensive so a college degree will put you in lifelong debt, housing is too expensive given what the average person earns, so you’ll be homeless at some point and no one can afford to live on minimum wage

    21. MarryMeDuffman on

      There’s plenty of reasons for this.

      At least AL is leading the nation on a positive note for once.

      Greatest drop in teen pregnancies!? 🏆

      Until they legalize child marriage, of course.

    22. GuitarGeezer on

      Make Alabama Rumania again!

      The Deep South will rot again!

      The Deep South is permanently unsuccessful despite better weather than the North for excellent reasons and they aim to keep it that way.

    23. augustfolk on

      Alabama has an understated reputation as a retirement destination due to its low taxes, warm weather, cheap housing, and cheap food. This is probably due to the retirees naturally dying off.

    24. MarryMeDuffman on

      Population growth wouldn’t matter if it wasn’t tied to money.

      Nature stabilizes itself.

      Money isn’t natural and we build our lives around it. Nature is self-correcting.

    26. agentchuck on

      I think I speak for all of us when I say that this is not the reproduction related crisis I expected to come out of Alabama.

    27. Disco425 on

      And their Senators Tommy and Katie are 2 of the absolutely stupidest and most ineffective of the entire legislative body. They’re only interested in culture wars, not actual solutions involving economics and science.

      While they were spreading Russian- manufactured disinformation about covid vaccines, the virus was killing more people in their state relative to their population than any other.

      “At 330 deaths per 100,000 Alabama has the highest death rate in the US along with Mississippi.”

      Source:
      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_Alabama

    30. Epona44 on

      This is not an emergency. Maybe some of those underrated 50 year olds will be able to get work if there are fewer young people. Nature seeks a balance.

    32. Fredasa on

      Definitely not the first state that leaps to mind when I consider the likeliest to reach that dubious milestone. Or any of the states in that general area.

    33. UsedToBCool on

      Don’t they have the highest infant mortality rate too? Going to be a dead state if that’s a thing..

    36. Live-Motor-4000 on

      Their education system is trash – so they can’t be that surprised that young people head off to have kids elsewhere

    37. TeekTheReddit on

      That’s okay. I’m sure Alabama’s sterling reputation of good governance and culture will be a huge draw for young Americans looking to start careers and families…

    39. jert3 on

      Oh no! We may run out of humans. There’s only 8 billion of us. Killing all other animal life on the planet may not be enough to save us. Oh noessssss

    40. albertech842 on

      Them cousins better get to stuffin’ 😂 all jokes aside maybe they should focus on keeping people alive past retirement age, all those clogged arteries are ensuring health insurance companies don’t have to pay up and social security payouts stay down

    42. Revenga8 on

      Cheaper eggs means more money for kids. So, where are them cheap eggs? It’s been a week already, price is going up.

    44. qwerty_ca on

      Ban all the immigrants! Make the state an even shittier place to live! Then Alabama will recover! Make Alabama Great Again1!!1!