#declining-birth-rates

#declining-birth-rates

The school day is just getting started, and 4-year-old Vasiliki Vourgou, a little girl with dark eyes and hair pulled back in a shiny ponytail with a hot pink scrunchie, is alone. Most days, there are two pupils in this small classroom on the Greek island of Lemnos, with big windows and a view of the school's front courtyard. But one student is sick, so today it's just Vasiliki, going through the morning routine with her teacher.

For years, Elon Musk has consistently argued that one of the greatest threats to civilization is collapsing birth rates. The billionaire CEO believes that declining fertility could hollow out economies, weaken workforces, and leave the West unable to sustain itself. In an X post last week, he wrote: "Low birth rate is the number one threat to the West. There will be no West if this continues."