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Show BUMPER BABY CROP Boom in Births Means Chanqes Biggest boom of all right now ts that which Is expanding the U. S. baby crop to historic proportions. More than 20 million new babies have arrived on the scene In this nation sines 1940, when the baby boom began. That is nearly 11 million mil-lion more than had been expected on the basis of what has been considered con-sidered the average yearly birth rats of the past, about two million. And this bumper crop has increased in-creased the total national fnmlly to more than 144 million souls considerably con-siderably more than even any government gov-ernment bureau had counted on. Last year more bundles from heaven arrived In the U. S. than evr before In Its history, a whop. Ipii.g 337 million; and this year probably will measure up to approximately approx-imately the same standard. Big families mean big changes, as every parent knows. Although the future is seldom less than obscure. ob-scure. It Is possible to predict in general terms what this expanded birth rate will mean to the U. S. during the next 10 or 15 years. There will be more growing children chil-dren to provide for. That means bigger markets than ever for Industry, Indus-try, business and manufacturers. It will mean the building of more schools, the production of more food, the manufacture of more clothing, the building of more homes. The Infants' wear and toy Industries, Indus-tries, of course, have already rocketed rock-eted to new levels of endeavor and production. As the children start to school and outgrow their little quarters at home the construction industry will begin to feel the impact In the form of a stepped-up demand for more single-family houses, builders believe. be-lieve. This, In turn, will give Impetus to the home furnishing and home equipment business. Further, it will mean the building of more banks and stores and the extension of bus and street car lines. In short. It will stimulate and sustain a higher level of employment. Another Implication lies In the fact that the present babies will have reached the peak of their youthful strength between 1960 and 1970. Military and other authorities are quick to figure that if universal military training were to be adopted adopt-ed now America's potential military strength would be extremely Impressive Im-pressive In the eyes of the world at that time. |