LOW BIRTH RATES

Low Birth Rates

Low Birth Rates

With humanity's figures expected to strike 7 billion by 2012, nations round the world are endeavoring to address overpopulation and overcrowding. But some countries are laboring with the opposite difficulty: low birthrates. For demonstration, Japan's government is so worried about its birthrate that it cheered latest report about a slight boost in fertility—a June report asserted that wed twosomes had an average of 1.37 kids in 2008, up from 1.34 in 2007.

This slight boost didn't help Japan much; it still has the second-lowest birthrate in the world, after Hong Kong. They aren't the only ...