Total Fertility Rate

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhWEBTMPfAAV3zvBE2G_UqGByYN9tCX6-9owKj1u7IJkBYbarEmdPTv5SKk7JecybTuRqDdZeqo6sSzIhbgRH-tFZqGrGhNy_NJAojc1Ub436LqfbrnmxN27W0iyCACm4q-GiCGkYxAXQ/s1600/Total+Fertility+Rate.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhWEBTMPfAAV3zvBE2G_UqGByYN9tCX6-9owKj1u7IJkBYbarEmdPTv5SKk7JecybTuRqDdZeqo6sSzIhbgRH-tFZqGrGhNy_NJAojc1Ub436LqfbrnmxN27W0iyCACm4q-GiCGkYxAXQ/s320/Total+Fertility+Rate.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br /><b>August 1, 2013</b><br /><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/01/usa-total-fertility-rate/2590781/">Fertility forecast: Baby bust is over; births will rise</a><br /><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><i>The total fertility rate in the USA is predicted to rise from a 25-year low of 1.89 children per woman in 2012 to 1.90 in 2013, according to the U.S. Fertility Forecast report released today by Demographic Intelligence.</i></div><br />1.89 to 1.90! Color me impressed! A few more years of that and we might even make it back to the declining long-term trend line. As a side note, it takes <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-replacement_fertility">a rate of 2.1</a> to maintain a stable population. Otherwise, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/24/politics/immigration-reform/">immigration for the win</a>! It's the land of the free. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/24/world/europe/europe-summit-nsa-surveillance/">What could possibly go wrong?</a><br /><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><i>Among women aged 15-44, those who attend religious services weekly or more have 1.42 children, compared with the 1.11 children of women who rarely or never attend.<br /><br />Women who attend religious services weekly intend to have 2.62 children, and those who rarely or never go want to have 2.10 children.</i></div><br />The following chart shows real annual religious construction spending per capita (August 2013 dollars).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4NYdOS0hZyCHU8QNFFBNBc7ev2gvW67r-L7DcbCZu6j0aqvdyXkZ0_Eo65aLwwcW0O9xVgUrq0zcKCXJyZHaMNm6shoUUNMIzEN31KhaSbhM0zJFCKQ4BAfIDV5U9N1GdqQAs5HqEjLI/s1600/Real+Religious+Construction+Spending.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4NYdOS0hZyCHU8QNFFBNBc7ev2gvW67r-L7DcbCZu6j0aqvdyXkZ0_Eo65aLwwcW0O9xVgUrq0zcKCXJyZHaMNm6shoUUNMIzEN31KhaSbhM0zJFCKQ4BAfIDV5U9N1GdqQAs5HqEjLI/s320/Real+Religious+Construction+Spending.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge</span>.<br /><br />I'll leave the trend line as an exercise for the reader. Got crayon?<br /><br />I'm not a religious person but I can say this. Over the long-term, we appear to be ZIRPing to <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2476322/Growing-old-fun-fun-fun-Land-Rising-Sun-Christopher-Stevens-reviews-nights-TV.html">Japanese hell in a handbasket</a>. The future's so bright <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/+in_a_basket_drinking_glass,697782074">I gotta buy glasses</a>.<br /><br /><b>Source Data:</b><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States">Demographics of the United States</a><br /><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=nJ3">St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart</a>

Total Fertility Rate

Click to enlarge. August 1, 2013 Fertility forecast: Baby bust is over; births will rise The total fertility rate in the USA is predicted to...

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