Children are not being born in sufficient numbers to prevent the population from shrinking. But federal bookkeepers who track our nation’s finances are in denial about it. The birth dearth is a ticking financial time bomb that will hurt everyone unless our demographic decline is reversed.

The two largest social insurance programs, Social Security and Medicare, are on slightly firmer financial ground today than last year, according to the trustee reports released by President Joe Biden‘s political appointees this week.