AIBU The global fertility crisis is the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced?

I believe that in the future there will be a lot more AI, maybe UBI and less need for everyone to work like they do today.

I get so confused by these points. Who is going to give the AI tech free? Tech billionaires tend to be billionaires for a reason & where does the money to fund UNI come from?

I think you're assuming the current system of work and taxes will continue unchanged. I believe that in the future there will be a lot more AI, maybe UBI and less need for everyone to work like they do today.
I am sure there are scientists and billionaire tech people working on ideas that we aren't privy to.
It will be a different world that maybe we can't imagine right now. Less people would give everyone more space and in my opinion is preferable to the population getting any bigger.
As for looking after the elderly, in my experience even where there are three or four children, it tends to be one or maybe two of them who step up to help.

Cull the old people. Sorted. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I’m not having children just to ‘save the population’

Hasn't anyone on this thread watched 'Humans'

There will probably be robot children before too long.

It will fund itself by eventually being far cheaper than employing humans.

But who are the tech companies that are going to provide it cheaply?

It will fund itself by eventually being far cheaper than employing humans.
In our industry, robotics are there, but very expensive. Give it 10 years and itll be perfected, more available and affordable. It’ll be able to work 24 hrs a day and won’t complain about working weekends - the human workforce just won’t be needed in the same way. For us, I’d imagine it’ll probably be one human overseeing 5 robots doing the jobs of 10 people. This is the next Industrial Revolution for sure.

For every 2 children born in UK another is wanted. Recent UN report found that couples wanted more children than they had -and cited economic and social barriers.

It's people making choices yes but with considereable constraints about how free those choices are.

I also keep reading that it will be fine because once baby boomers die off population goes back to normal - fertilty rate of less than 2.1 means every generation after is smaller than one before - and there always been about 20% of women - fairly consistent- who don't want/have kids - so remaining 80% have fewer and fewer means every generation is smaller than last - so population pryramids remain inverted and that becomes the normal.

Some consquences every later and later retirment ages less government help once do - though bigger voting blocks may cause opposite - more immigration if we can find immigrants as everywhere but sub saharan africa is seeing declines.

I image we'll adapt - Japan and Italy are ahead of the curve so we can watch what they do - but at some point you need to population to come back up again.

If house prices decline that could help - higher prices act as depressors on fertlity. I think some people assume this but it ignores the social aspect - once one child become the norm it's very hard to change that - as China finding out.

Population does need to decline but it need to slump and not be a cliff edge - so we have time to adapt. Though TBH we've had decades in UK and always kicked it further down the road.

Haven't they just said we can't afford the assisted dying bill in practice?

I don't think it's a bad thing at all. Women have so many opportunities nowadays, it's not all about having babies and then waiting for our children to have babies so you can be a grandmother.

Yep there are other concerns such as getting tax or if we’ll be too redundant but due to AI now is a good time to reduce the population.

Who is going to fund all this AI?

my thinking is once the population has reduced to a certain level, people will feel happier (as more housing, more space etc) feel more inclined to have more babies

When we have upside down demographics there is going to be more unrest & suffering. Not just in our country but globally countries will be competing for resources.

Same. Just get down to where people can live with less fighting and be happier.

I mean, in fairness, that would be annoying!

Good. It needs to be in decline.

YABU.

The global birth rate has (unsteadily) declined for humans, but due to changes in technology the global population rate is still rising. And anyway, other species exist so it's not like the world will be depopulated.

People at the end of the world complaining that their neighbours are playing loud music after 10pm 😁

I'd love to see a dystopian film starring Mumnsetters.
"We're all going to die - we need you to save the Earth!"

"Nah, it was time for us to go anyway."

I don't think so. The tfr in New Zealand is on a par with ours but their population density is less than a tenth of our own.

We are finite. We won’t be here forever, we’re just another tiny part of the universe’s endless cycle. We’re nothing, we just think we’re important.

Regardless of whether we decline into extinction or not, we will become extinct in the not too distant future one way or another. It is just a cycle. We won’t be missed, but we’ve left quite a mess for the next lifecycle to clear up!

my thinking is once the population has reduced to a certain level, people will feel happier (as more housing, more space etc) feel more inclined to have more babies. I don’t think the decline will happen forever. This is just a natural correction. The natural world is pretty good at finding a balance (absence of an unnatural force forcing extinction)

And almost 32% of births in 2023 were to non native mothers and so, I think, hides the sterilising effect that our own culture is engendering

Yep there are other concerns such as getting tax or if we’ll be too redundant but due to AI now is a good time to reduce the population.

Reduce naturally as seems to be happening, and not wipe ourselves out.