The U.S. needs more immigrants to fill the gap left by a declining birth rate, former President Bill Clinton said during a press event.
“America is not having enough babies to keep our populations up, so we need immigrants that have been vetted to do work,” Clinton remarked at a fish fry in Fort Valley, Georgia.
He reiterated this point at another event on October 14, saying, “We got the lowest birth rate we’ve had in well over 100 years. We’re not at replacement level, which means we got to have somebody come here if we want to keep growing the economy.”
However, the influx of migrants makes it harder for Americans to have more children. Immigration depresses wages for families, increases housing costs, and shifts focus away from policies that could help Americans expand their families.
Clinton made these comments while defending the rising number of migrants entering the U.S., despite tragic outcomes, like the murder of Laken Riley, a young woman from Georgia, by a migrant.
Under President Joe Biden’s relaxed immigration policies, wages have stagnated, and housing prices have soared by about 20%, as roughly 10 million legal, illegal, quasi-legal, and temporary migrants entered the country.
As a result, the U.S. birth rate dropped to a historic low in 2023, according to a CNN report from August: “In 2023, the US fertility rate fell another 3% from the year before, to a historic low of about 55 births for every 1,000 females ages 15 to 44, according to final data published Tuesday by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. Just under 3.6 million babies were born last year, about 68,000 fewer than the year before.”
Since 2007, when the fertility rate was at its peak, the number of births has dropped 17%, with the overall fertility rate decreasing by 21%, according to the report.
A combination of factors, such as delayed marriages, longer time spent in school, and extended job searches, are linked to declining birth rates, according to Sarah Hayford, director of the Institute for Population Research at The Ohio State University.
“When the cost of housing rises, fertility falls … certainly that’s not really something that’s even necessarily debated anymore because it is so obviously the case,” demographer Lyman Stone told Breitbart News in November 2023.
The government could boost the birth rate by increasing productivity and reducing migration.
Clinton acknowledged this alternative during a Monday event, saying, “we’ve got to have somebody come here if we want to grow the economy unless one of you artificial intelligence geniuses has figured out how we can all grow with no work.”
However, Clinton’s preference for migrants over American births reflects the broader stance of the Democratic Party, where pro-migration progressives and business interests often prioritize migration for cheap labor, government spending, and renters over increasing the native population.
In November 2022, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) similarly emphasized the importance of migrants over American families: “We’re short of workers. We have a population that is not reproducing on its own with the same level that it used to. The only way we’re going to have a great future in America is if we welcome and embrace immigrants, the dreamers and all of them — because our ultimate goal is to help the dreamers [illegals who were brought in by their parents] get a path to citizenship for all 11 million — or however many undocumented there are here [Emphasis added].”
This pattern, where more immigration coincides with declining native births, is seen in many developed nations.
For instance, in the U.K., both major political parties have been increasing immigration levels, which has resulted in a sharp drop in the birth rate. As reported by The Guardian in February: “Campaigners have warned that ‘procreation has become a luxury item,’ after it emerged that the fertility rate in England and Wales had fallen to its lowest level since records began in 1939.”
Data from the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics showed that in 2022, the fertility rate dropped to 1.49 children per woman, far below the 2.1 rate required to maintain the population without immigration. There were 605,479 live births in 2022, a 3.1% decline from the previous year, marking the lowest number since 2002.
In Canada, where immigration under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reached record levels, the fertility rate also hit a record low in 2023, according to CBC: “Canada recorded its lowest ever fertility rate for the second year in a row in 2023, according to Statistics Canada. The country recorded a rate of 1.26 children born per woman, with British Columbia having the nation’s lowest fertility rate at one child per woman.”
Despite these trends, surveys show that Americans still want to have more children.
According to a 2018 report from the Institute for Family Studies, “We can see that every single estimate of ideal or desired fertility, including our hardcore minimum estimate from adjusted GSS data, is way above actual fertility.” The report noted: “What this comparison makes clear is that no matter whether you use intended or ideal fertility, women report greater childbearing ambitions than they have achieved or are likely to achieve, and this has been the case for a long time. Cut the data however you like, use whatever indicator floats your boat, and you’ll find the ship of American fertility sinking, steadily underperforming what women have been saying they want or intend.”
Economic pressures such as longer work hours, stagnant wages, inconsistent jobs, high childcare expenses, and unaffordable housing are causing many women to adjust their expectations, with fewer of them reaching their goal of having about 2.3 children, even though they continue to view that as ideal.
Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Clinton, have one child.
{Matzav.com}