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Trend

Fur Babies Over Human Babies

It’s no secret that birthrates are falling. Past issues of this newsletter have discussed it.

Some highlights include:

• Over the past 50 years, global fertility has been halved. The decline is especially pronounced in high-income economies, where the population in already shrinking or on track to shrink soon.

• In 2019, eighty-one countries had fertility rates below the population replacement threshold. The replacement fertility rate, estimated at 2.1 births per woman, represents the level required to sustain a stable population over the long run, assuming mortality and migration remain constant.

• By 2100, the UN projects 97% of countries will have fertility rates below the 2.1 babies per woman needed to sustain population levels.

• The consequences of falling fertility rates include economic challenges due to shrinking labor forces, strained government finances and pressure on pension systems; weakened social capital and community participation as adults have fewer and smaller families and demographic shifts putting pressure on healthcare systems.

But Millennials and Gen Z are fulfilling their parental instincts in a different way—pets.

The data clearly shows a significant increase in pet ownership in the U.S. over the past few decades.

Various factors, including the humanization of pets, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and demographic shifts drive this trend.

As pet ownership continues to rise, so does the economic impact of the pet industry, highlighting the growing importance of pets in American households.

The pet industry is booming with a 2024 market cap of $150.6 Billion in the US alone.

Here are a few ways to take advantage:

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