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America’s birthrate fell to a record low in 2017. Moreover, the birthrate fell by 2% between 2016 and 2017.
In fact, America’s birthrate fell for all groups except women in their 40s, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calculates. Additionally, the birthrate for some groups fell faster.
The number of babies born to women between 20 and 24 years old fell by 4% in 2017, for example. Meanwhile, the teen birthrate fell by 7% to 18.8 per 1,000 a record low.
In detail, America’s birthrate, or fertility rate, was 60.2 per 1,000, National Public Radio reports. As a result, America’s birthrate fell to its lowest level in 30 years in 2017.
America’s Birthrate Declines Sharply
“The U.S. fertility rate has declined sharply since the Great Recession,” the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College concludes.
Notably, the decline in America’s birthrate is threatening the future of Social Security, the CDC claims. To explain, the current Social Security System needs a birthrate of 1.8% to provide enough workers to fund retirement through taxes.
Consequently, if America’s birthrate falls again in 2018, it could drop below the replacement level for Social Security by 2019. Therefore, Congress could raise taxes to fund Social Security.
Uncle Sam finances Social Security with taxes on working and middle-class people’s salaries. If the number of working and middle-class people falls, the amount of Social Security taxes correspondingly drops. Under those circumstances, Congress will have to cut retirement benefits or raise taxes to fund Social Security.
America’s Birthrate Forces Maine To Help Pay Student Loans
The drop in America’s birthrate is forcing one state to take drastic action. In particular, Maine is paying off student loans to get younger people to move there.
Maine’s government is offering college graduates tax credits to help pay their student loans, CNN reports. Furthermore, Maine will cut state your state taxes by the amount of your student loan. As an illustration, if you owe $5,000 in taxes and $4,000 in loans, Maine will cut your tax bill by $4,000.
The state issued the tax credit because Maine’s population is the nation’s oldest. Maine officials hope the tax credit will lure young professionals to the state.
Officials admit that Maine’s population is below replacement because of a low birthrate. To clarify, the replacement rate is the number of babies needed to take the place of every adult in the state.
“Over time, the employer community spoke out loud and clear that even if 100% of college graduates in Maine chose to stay here and work, that still (wouldn’t) fulfill our workforce need,” Natalie Wells of Live + Work in Maine claims.
Desperate Maine Pays People To Move There
In addition, Maine will even pay some college graduates to move the state.
People with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degrees could receive a check instead of a tax bill in Maine. If a STEM major’s student loan payment exceeds his or her state taxes, Maine will make up the difference. For example, a STEM major with a $1,000 tax bill and $2,000 in student loans could receive a $1,000 “nonrefundable tax credit.”
Maine is taking such desperate measures because its population is aging fast. Particularly, the average age in Maine is 44 years – the highest in the nation.
America’s Birthrate Decline Could Destroy Your Home Value
Baby Boomers could have trouble selling their homes because of America’s birthrate decline.
Fewer Millennials (people under 35) are having children. For this reason, fewer of them will buy the suburban, single-family homes that Boomers own, Fortune contributor Joseph Coughlin predicts.
Because of this, many Baby Boomers (those between 53 and 73) will not find buyers for their houses. So, Boomers will not be able to finance their retirement by selling the family home.
Even if the Boomers can sell their homes, they will have to do so at a steep discount. Thus, many Boomers could find themselves with nothing but Social Security to live on after retirement.
However, Social Security could cut payments because America’s birthrate is continually declining. Under these circumstances, America’s birthrate downturn threatens the nation’s economic stability.
