We’re building up to World Population Day on July 11 by counting down the Top 10 Reasons to Choose a Small Family. Reason #10: World population is 7.2 billion. The most recent United Nations “medium variant” scenario has us passing through 9.6 billion in 2050, with no end in sight (at least not for another 50-plus years). That does not have to be our destiny. We know the scale of human activity on Earth passed into overshoot several decades ago. The more we ignore the population multiplier in the sustainability equation, the more drastic must be our contraction of economic activity (consumption). Yet we have the tools to prevent world population from ever reaching even 9 billion. What we lack is the will to acknowledge the problem and to strongly recommend to all our children that they limit the size of their family.

The current population level and state of overshoot, coupled with the forecast that we are rapidly heading toward 10 billion, is one very good reason to choose to have no children, or perhaps just one. Even stopping at two will help. Adoption is a good option for those who desire more.

Please share this thought with your friends and children. Subscribe to our updates to get the rest of the Top 10 Reasons to Choose a Small Family!

Dave Gardner
Director of the documentary
GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth