<p>Spain has one of the lowest birth rates in the developed world, with the number of births dropping by 18% since 2008.</p>
<p>Spanish women say they want at least 2 kids, but figures show that Spanish women between the ages of 18 and 49 have only 1.3 children. This is below the EU&rsquo;s average of 1.58. ;</p>
<p>Spaniards tend to wait longer than most to have kids, with the average mother having her first child at age 32. ;</p>
<p>To address Spain&rsquo;s worrisome decline in population, the nation has decided to appoint a &ldquo;sex czar.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Edelmira Barreira will be the nation&rsquo;s first sex czar &ndash; a position co-designed by herself and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.</p>
<p>Barreira is a demographic expert and senator in the Galician parliament. She has been tasked with reversing Spain&rsquo;s population crisis after the nation recorded more deaths than births (in 2015) for the first time since 1941. ;</p>
<p>Spain&rsquo;s education ministry said that the dwindling birth rate &ldquo;aggravates other economic imbalances and generates important &lsquo;impacts&rsquo; in the Welfare State.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Rafael Puyol of Madrid&rsquo;s IE Business School blames long working hours for the decrease in birth rate. The Institute for Family Policies (IFP) blames economic crisis. ;</p>
<p><strong>Why is this a problem? ;</strong></p>
<p>Declining populations in first world countries are a serious problem, especially considering the rapid population rates in lesser-developed nations. ;</p>
<p>Populations in the Muslim world are growing incredibly fast, and analysts predict that the overall Muslim population will grow twice as fast as the non-Muslim population over the next two decades. If this becomes a reality, Muslims will make up more than 15% of the world&rsquo;s population by 2030. ;</p>
<p>You need two births to replace a couple. The United States has also fallen below replacement rate in births with a rate of 1.89. And we are now filling that void with immigrants. ;</p>
<p><strong>Author&rsquo;s Note:</strong> As a woman who has thus far decided not to have children, I can list many reasons why modern couples don&rsquo;t want to have kids: fewer jobs and increased hours for those with jobs, a high cost of living that requires both parents to work full-time, dwindling living spaces, the disappearance of the &ldquo;traditional&rdquo; nuclear family, and the perception that the quality of life is declining. ;</p>
<p><strong>Editor&#8217;s note</strong>: Scholar Thomas Malthus said (paraphrasing), &#8220;Population expands to consume all available resources, checked by war, famine and disease.&#8221; This however does not apply in the first world, where standards of living allow us to not depend on our children for survival. This can be seen, of course in the U.S., Japan and Europe primarily.</p>
<p>Historical forces seem to predict that countries with growing populations and lower standards of living will overwhelm countries where population is in decline. While we may not see this in our lifetimes, it means an almost certain eventualy destruction of our culture.  ;</p>
<p>So let&#8217;s get busy folks!!</p>