Is America Facing its Own Birth-Dearth?

An article from Forbes discussing whether the United States will soon be facing a demographic decline similar to Europe and East Asia. (H/t Instapundit). There have been many articles over many years discussing the (negative) consequences of lower birth rates and declining populations, particularly in relation to Europe. (See, e.g., here and here and here). Although I have not read his book, the issue first captured attention in Ben Wattenburg's book "The Birth Dearth" in the late 1980's. The basic issue is that a country must maintain birthrates above 2.1 children per couple to maintain its population. If there is a lower birth ratio, then the population begins to decline. This can cause a great deal of havoc, especially in nations that rely on "pay-as-you-go" socialized pension systems (e.g., social security). And then there are the issues when nations, such as most European states, attempt to correct for this decline by increasing immigration.

The interesting aspect of the Forbes' article, however, is that it attempts to address, albeit briefly, government laws and regulations that have discouraged larger families. One not mentioned, but which I suspect has a real impact, are child car seat laws. Because of the size of the seats, and the attachment points, you can only fit two seats per row of seating. Because children must remain in seats for at least 8 years in most states, the typical couple will have all of there children in car seats for a substantial period of time. Realistically, unless a family uses a minivan or a Suburban style SUV with multiple rows of seating, child car seat laws restrict families to no more than 2 children. Less than the size needed to maintain a population. In this light, car seat laws seem less child-friendly, than childless-friendly.