Loss Of Children Affects New York, Hartford

The Hartford Courant reports:

Look at the cities that have seen the most dramatic decreases in the population of children under the age of 18. From 2010 to 2014, the following cities posted the largest declines: Cleveland (5.5 percent); Hartford (5.2 percent); Rochester, N.Y. (5.2 percent); Detroit (5.2 percent); and Chicago (4.2 percent). A separate study for the years from 2000 to 2010 suggests this is a continuation of long-standing trends.

With the possible exception of Chicago, these are all cities that have struggled with a declining tax base and population loss for decades. But these population indicators suggest that something more pernicious is taking place. As the urbanist Aaron Renn has noted, these cities are "failing at creating the next generation of residents."

By contrast, the cities that saw the biggest gains in the percentage of the population under 18 tended to be in the Sunbelt. Austin, Texas, came in at No. 1 (7.9 percent); followed by Oklahoma City (5.8 percent); Houston (5.5 percent), Raleigh, N.C. (4.9 percent); and San Antonio (4.3 percent).

These are the extremes. What about a city like Boston, which has remade itself into a hub for the creative class? Here the story is more mixed. In 1970, the share of the population under the age of 19 was 33 percent. Then it began a steady decline, reaching 21 percent in 2013, with further declines likely in the succeeding years.

A similar dynamic can be glimpsed in other cities often held up as success stories. In San Francisco, for example, population data shows that in 1950, a little over 20 percent of the city's residents consisted of children. That ticked upward to just over 25 percent in 1970, and then came a slow, steady decline: 20 percent in 1980; 16 percent in 1990; and by 2010 just over 13 percent. San Francisco may be thriving, but its demographic profile is worrisome.

The struggles of Blue America....