生育率下降拖累美国经济发展

Nokidding! We need more babies. American fertility rates are declining at arecord pace. A new Wall Street Journal report citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that fewer births mean less workers to drive the economy and fewer people paying into a tax base to finance benefits for theelderly.

说真的，我们需要更多孩子。美国生育率下滑的速度创下了记录，《华尔街日报》新发布的一篇报道援引疾控预防中心发布的数据发出警告，生育率越低意味着驱动经济发展的人口越少，而支付税基以负担老年人福利的人数也越少。

"Thisis one of the first signs we're seeing of a real tangible threat to the longterm economy," says Yahoo Finance's Jeff Macke. The U.S. needs 2.1 children per woman to keep the population stable.

雅虎财经频道的Jeff Macke说，“这是我们看到的首个给经济长期发展造成切实威胁的征兆”。美国需要2.1的生育率才能保持人口稳定。

In2013, women were only averaging 1.86. Fewer babies and a declining population means less consumer spending. "You're talking about a lot of disposable income.Diapers, anything related to a baby is just a money printing machine for the economy," Macke says.

2013年，女性人均生育率只有1.86，而更少的出生率和下滑的人口就意味着更低的消费水平。Macke 说，“这里说的是许多可支配收入，尿布以及一切与孩子有关的事物都是发展经济的印钞机”。

So,why the decline? It could be a hangover from the recession that ended in 2009.Macke says, the Millennial generation is skeptical of the economy. "They came of age during the dotcom meltdown and then the housing meltdown. So they have reasons to distrust things like the stock market. Buying a house is just a ludicrous proposition right now." Economic concerns combined with the costs associated with starting a family are influencing this generation to wait longer and have fewer children.

那么，为什么出生率会下滑呢？这应归因于2009年结束的那次经济衰退。Macke说，1981年后出生的这一代对经济局势持怀疑态度。“他们成年时赶上了互联网泡沫破灭和住房危机，因此他们对股市此类事物不信任是有缘由的，目前买房对他们来说是一个可笑的概念”。对经济的担忧外加生育孩子的成本让他们推迟计划并减少生育的子女数量。

Another factor in the declining rates is the delicate balance of work and life that today's women battle with. Women are heading into the workforce with careergoals that may put their family planning on hold. Facebook (FB) and Apple(AAPL)made headlines earlier this year by offering to cover the cost offreezing eggs for their women employees. An incentive they hope will retain and boost the amount of women in their workforce.

生育率下降的另一原因是女性努力地在工作和生活中取得平衡，带着职业目标进入职场的女性可能会搁置生育计划。脸谱网和苹果公司今年早些时候因为公司女性职员支付冷冻卵子的费用而登上报纸头条。他们的动机是希望能够留住并增加公司的女性雇员。