What looks like good news for a nation in a demographic crisis isn't really. For the Colson Center,

I'm John Stone Street with the point. Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Burst

Increased last year for the first time in seven years. The U.S. fertility rate in 2020 dipped to

1.64. That's the lowest since the government began tracking it in the 1930s. In 2021, it increased

for the first time since 2014 to 1.66.

But in short, that's a lower spike than we'd historically expect during something that keeps us all at home, like a pandemic.

When economists called it a minor blip that still leaves us on a long-term trajectory toward lower births.

The replacement rate's at least 2.1. Some scholars

think 1.7 is the threshold of no return. Look, nations that fail to replace their population

face economic stagnation and social instability. A society committed to adult happiness over

the future and well-being of children will be a nation that fails to replace its population. In other words, birth rates are more than statistics and historic predictors.

They reflect a nation's priorities, values, and worldview.

For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.