Inviting Children Into Your Home

 Hi everyone my name is Veronica Hernandez and I am hoping to share what I learn about family relations and the importance of family on my blog. The family is something that has changed society, but nevertheless, society has also changed the meaning or idea of what the family is and what it should be. There are many people who believe that overpopulation is killing our Earth, and that people should not be creating a family and having a lot of children. In fact, a book written by Paul Ehrlich, called "The Population Bomb" caused a great panic that there were too many people, and that if people kept having children, then we would soon run out of resources. He even went so far as to say that you were selfish if you were having children because they would be taking resources away from others.  After this book was published, many people were convinced that overpopulation was inevitable. He was right that the birth rates were in fact rising, but I do believe that he was wrong to say that we needed to stop having children. Many cultures today now believe that having 1-2 children is enough, or maybe even no children. Many go on to explain that the reason they don't want more is because kids are expensive, or they don't want to marry, or for the sake of individualism. Overpopulation is talked about a lot in the world today, but do you ever really hear anyone talking about underpopulation? I feel like it is rare to hear people talking about underpopulation since so many are convinced that we are already overpopulated. In that sense then, what are the risks of being underpopulated?

A risk for underpopulation is how human capital is affected. Human capital is the knowledge, skills, nd information that people have and contribute to society. If people are having less children, the people who are working will then have to work harder and longer to satisfy the needs of a proper economy. The economy will begin to shrink with less people; therefore, making it necessary for workers to work even harder. There won't be enough skills or knowledge so people will have to increase their workload to make up for the lack therof. 

Another area that will be affected by underpopulation is our social security system. Due to the low birth rates compared to what they used to be, there will be a low working population compared to the population that needs supported. This will cause higher taxing due to decreasing fertility rates. Because there won't be enough people working to support the older generations, people will be taxed more to fit the needs. Our generation is going to be required to work harder and pay more to be able to aid in their support. So then when our generation is in need of support, who will be supporting us if the population continues to decline? That is what I believe is alarming when we start to deeper understand the effects that underpopulation will have on us.

I do believe that the number of children that people invite into their homes is a personal choice, but I also believe how important it is to include God in those decisions. Why should we see the importance of bringing children into this world? In Genesis 1:28 it states, "And God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the Earth..." Of course it's important to have children to be able to satisfy the needs of a society, but I believe it's even more important to have children to obey God's commandments. Take your worries and questions to God, and He will be there to guide and direct you and your spouse through it; we just need to be willing to include him in our decisions. I believe that including God in these choices will help to make the process so much better and we will feel more comfortable in bringing children into a world that doesn't agree with it. I hope to be able to share and inform more as I learn more throughout my class.