NEW YORK — Figures released last week from the National Center for Health Statistics indicate that the number of live births in 2007 broke a 50-year fertility record for the United States. Demographics analyst Ken Gronbach believes this bodes well for the U.S. manufacturing sector.
“This bodes well for the future of the United States,” said Gronbach, demographic analyst and author of "The Age Curve: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Storm." “The dramatic rise in our country’s birth rate will bring industry back home. I believe we will have a large, sophisticated, competitive workforce that sets us apart from other Western countries. This is huge.”
According to provisional data, 4,315,000 babies were born last year. An annual birth rate of this magnitude has not been seen in America since the middle of the Baby Boom years; in 1957, 4,300,000 live births were recorded.
Gronbach anticipates a resurgence of domestic manufacturing. As he notes, China, our top competitor in this sector, is systematically eliminating its labor force with its one-child policy. Other nations are facing declining birth rates, increased shipping costs, inflation, a weak U.S. dollar, as well as higher energy costs, all of which will make their manufactured products cost more in the U.S. and help bring back domestic manufacturing.
Gronbach also points out that the record number of U.S. births in 2007 is not a freak occurrence, but part of a significant and growing trend toward having bigger families. Generation Y, defined as having been born between 1985-2010, will be 100 million people, 20 million more than the Baby Boom generation. “This will provide a large and savvy workforce, the best the nation has ever seen,” said Gronbach. “Our technical schools will be filled with the best and the brightest,” Gronbach predicts. “We’re going to have the best electricians, the best athletes, the best cops and the best volunteer military force.”
To hear more from Kenneth Gronbach, president and CEO of KGC Direct, check out his blog: http://theagecurve.blogspot.com.
