(IBD) Progressive Socialist California's Demographic Dilemma: Where Are The Kids?

[Daniel John Sobieski]

Demographics: Just as baby boomers are reaching retirement or fleeing  the state, a dearth of children threatens to turn the Golden State into the  golden years state with potentially dire economic consequences.

California was once a leader where the "next big thing" would happen and then  migrate to the rest of the country.

With an economy among the world's largest if it were a separate country, it  in a sense still is, having already gone over its own fiscal cliff, beset by low  growth, high taxes and regulations, an exodus of business and population, and a  staggering debt of unfunded liabilities.

As the basic transformation of America promised by President Obama continues,  California offers a glimpse into the future of what happens when governments  operating on progressive socialist ideas start running out of other people's  money. To make matters worse, California is about to run out of those "other  people."

In 1970, children made up 33% of California's population, a number that's  expected to shrink to just over a fifth by 2030, a report by the University of  Southern California and the Lucile Packard Foundation shows.

That year California averaged about 21 seniors per 100 working age adults. By  2030, that number is predicted to rise to 36% of working age adults. This birth  dearth means there will be fewer people pulling the wagon that state government  is inviting more people to ride.

"These trends are not yet widely recognized, but they should be a wake-up  call for policymakers," said Dowell Myers, lead author of "California's  Diminishing Resource: Children," and a demographer at the University of Southern  California.

Indeed, California, the world's eighth-largest economy, and the most populous  state in the U.S., is going to shrink, the consequence of policies that has made  it less and less a business-friendly state where families no longer can come to  and thrive and prosper.

The state's birthrate fell to 1.94 children per woman in 2010, below the  replacement level of 2.1 children, according to the study, and lower than the  overall U.S. rate of 2.06 children in 2012.

Read More At IBD:  http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/011513-640692-california-b...