Re: Population Growth Isn’t a Progressive Issue. It Should Be.

The New York Times recently published a guest essay arguing that progressives should push for infinite population growth. We sent a letter to voice our disagreement which was not published, so we are featuring it here.

We encourage all our members and supporters to make their voices heard! See our media guide for advice on how to do that.

To the Editor

Re “Population Growth Isn’t a Progressive Issue. It Should Be.,” by Dr. Victor Kumar (August 5, 2024):

Dr. Kumar argues “there is no escaping the need for people to have more children,” fueling harmful conservative pronatalist narratives. It is not women’s job to prop up unsustainable Ponzi economic systems that are based on the absurd notion that infinite growth is possible and desirable.

Dr. Kumar is quick to dismiss concern over population growth, arguing that per capita consumption matters more for climate change than our numbers. We must slash consumption in rich countries, but population growth is the other major driver of emissions increase. Not to mention that the climate crisis is just one manifestation of humanity’s ecological overshoot. Biodiversity loss, the depletion of key natural resources such as fresh water, deforestation, pollution, etc., are all exacerbated by continued population growth.

Dr. Kumar is right that policies to support parents and would-be parents are a good thing (not least because they can help give existing children a better start in life), but these are proven to be ineffective at reversing the birth rate decline. Dr. Kumar cites France as an example of a country that “has not experienced the severe decline in fertility observed in neighboring countries.” Indeed, France has the highest fertility rate in Europe, but it is still below the replacement level needed to maintain a stable population, and is continuing to drop.

Pronatalists need to accept that the majority of people simply no longer want to have large families — instead of wasting billions of dollars trying to reverse declining fertility rates, governments must focus on adapting societies and economies to an absence of population growth, and to a higher proportion of senior citizens. We already know this is possible — Japan has been shrinking since 2010, and continues to perform well for quality of life.

The latest UN population projections released last month show that our global population is still on track to peak at over 10 billion in the second half of this century (up from today’s 8.2 billion). “Population decline” should be the least of our worries. Let’s focus on ensuring more women in the world’s rapidly growing areas can fulfil their basic right to family planning.

Sincerely,

Olivia Nater
Communications Manager
Population Connection