Professor of Policy and Demography Dowell Myers analyzed census data and says he was startled by what he found:
Myers: "Holy cow, we're losing kids. It's an actual decline. There's a net loss of kids."
Myers found that in 1970 kids made up 33 percent of California's population….but by 2030, they're expected to make up only 21 percent. Myers says birth rates are declining in all ethnic groups, and both immigration and migration from other states are down. He says given the increasing number of retirees, a public policy shift is needed:
Myers: "What we can do is we can invest better in the kids we do have so we can get more per capita results out of each kid. Given the shortage, that's the only solution."
The study was funded by the Lucile Packard Foundation for
Children's Health.