I’ve never understood why a declining population is in itself a bad thing (for individuals).
Everywhere there seems to be labor shortages it’s almost always the low-end jobs that can’t fill vacancies (that’s a good thing for living standards). Plus benefits like less inheritance splitting, greater capital per person (roads, houses, etc.). And at the far extreme, developing countries often have high growth rates and widespread poverty as a result. On the flip side, if I’m an only child and inherit my parent’s house, that is a huge increase to my living standards to never have to carry a mortgage.
The argument usually seems to be that old people consume resources without working, but isn’t that true of both children and the elderly? The elderly need a lot of hospitals, doctors, nurses, etc., but kids need teachers, doctors, school bus drivers, universities, daycares, etc. Both groups might pull family members out of the workforce for years to care for them. But the elderly often have their own assets to draw from to pay for some/all of this, whereas kids come into the world with nothing.
What am I missing?
In: Economics
There are many reasons and unfortunately there’s nothing simple about economics and declining population but…
Essentially it all comes down these simple statements:
Less people = Less people paying taxes.
Less people = less demand.
Less people = less workforce
When you have a declining population, infrastructure, society and everything that is built around that population is now underutilized. Everything we have done has been built to be supported by more and more people.
You don’t build and expand a city, to support a town. You don’t build a town, to support a village, you don’t build a village to support 1 family.
When you have large sprawling metropolises, you have to have people being born in or moving to these places to keep things running. Basic necessities are required like trash pickups or grocery store employees. Once these people start disappearing, the demand for a service doesn’t go away, but you start getting holes. Stores that can’t support their staff close, and options start getting spread out. The once sprawling, thriving metropolis turns into a literal bunch of urban islands, where resources are still needed but the demand has fallen and the supply is further away.
The need, stays, but the demand falls off. The people aren’t there to support it.
Less people, means less utilization.
We’re completely built on the idea of growth and expansion. Noone built for sustainability or conservation.
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