How Population Falls

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE GLOBAL POPULATION STARTS TO FALL, AND WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?

Within the lifetime of today’s children, the global population is expected to peak. This demographic shift began sixty years ago, when some countries first saw their birth rates decline. By now, more than half of all nations have a fertility rate below the replacement level. Our economies are dependent on growth, and the prospect of population decline is already inspiring fear and consternation. Conspiracy theories are spreading. Right-wing narratives dominate the discussion, framing this development as a cataclysm. But does it have to be?

How Population Falls provides a much-needed progressive, optimistic framework for understanding this demographic change. Danny Dorling argues that population decline could be positive, especially given our environmental constraints and the impossibility of infinite growth. However, a shrinking population challenges core assumptions about social systems, housing markets and growth-based economics.

Dorling, who has been charting demographic shifts for decades, suggests we need to start adapting to what could otherwise be one of humanity’s greatest calamities. What can we do to mitigate the impact? What is it that is deterring the young from having children? The answers are complicated. But they will help us push back against a burgeoning spiral of pessimism.