Data show that the Hudson Valley is experiencing the start of The Great People Shortage, a term that demographers and economists are using for the steady trend toward global population decline. Higher living standards, rising costs, and other factors have pushed global birth rates below the threshold that is necessary to keep populations stable.

That means there are fewer of us to work, volunteer, and consume goods. That fact comes with many ramifications. Some are good. For example, fewer people to feed and less travel would likely reduce emissions that cause climate change. But shrinking populations will also exacerbate labor shortages, shrivel markets for consumer goods, and put upward pressure on wages.

Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress recently took a look at trends from our region by tracking births, school populations, migration and labor cohorts, and their report, The Great People Shortage and its Effects on the Hudson Valley, assess the consequences of The Great People Shortage in the Hudson Valley and considers potential solutions.