Japan Today reported that the those 65 years of age and older have now beat out teenagers as shoplifters. They are often described as lonely, without family, without employment and hungry.
Japan legalized abortion in 1948 by means of the Eugenic Protection Act. While it is difficult to find accurate statistics on the abortion rate in Japan the birth rate is currently at 1.39 children per woman. A typical replacement rate in developed countries is around 2.1 children per woman.
The low birth rate is caused in part by well over 200,000 abortions per year. Â Today the population of Japan consists of approximately 25% being 65 years of age and older.
Does this portend the future in the United States?
By January of 1973, when abortion became legal throughout the United States, the fertility rate had already dropped below replacement level (in 1971 it was 2.261 and in 1972 it was 2.010). In 1970 9.87% of the U.S. population was 65 years of age and older. In 2008 that demographic grew to 12.78% of the population (a 29.5% increase) [source]. The Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Aging projects the demographic of 65 and older to represent 19% of the population by 2030 [source]. The so-called “population explosion” in American is the result of immigration which explains why it is such a hot political topic.
We have long heard the concern that a smaller group of Americans are increasingly have to pay into Social Security to meet the need of a growing group of retirees drawing on it. The eldercare business is booming and more people are wrestling with how to best care for aging parents and grandparents.
Abortion is hardly the only culprit in the dilemma. Tampering with the natural balance of life creates these problems. And even tampering is not so much the problem but tampering without consideration of the long-term consequences is what we are looking at. In this age of “live for the moment” people are not weighing the cost of their decisions today on their own future or the future of others.
