More than a third of community college students have vanished in the United States

[ss20ts]

Okay. I can see certain areas decreasing. But overall the US population is growing and is much higher than it was 50 years ago. I understand consolidation and geographical areas gaining and losing populations, but it blows my mind to think less kids are in school today than 50 years ago. I’m not saying that it’s not the case because I haven't done the research to confirm or dispute. It just baffles me if it is. That is why I asked the question.

Part of the reason for the increased population numbers is people live longer than they used to, and with such a large numbers generation (boomers) now at the higher end of age spectrum it is really showing their power reflected in the numbers. Less 'new' people but still many already counted 'old' people in the mix. Add to that many people are having children later in life, and fewer children per household when they do have them - it keeps the 'new' people numbers lower than previous generations. https://www.marketplace.org/2021/05/19/h...h-problem/

My grandmother 5 childen
My mother 3 children
Me 0 children
My 2 siblings both have 0 children

My great grandmother 6 children
My grandmother 4 children
My father 1 child
Me 0 children and no siblings

That's how population is changing. Lots of people aren't having kids today or are having fewer than the previous generations. Immigration is how the US population is increasing. It's not increasing from our own breeding. Back in the day, you needed a lot of kids to run the farm, take care of the kids, etc. You had to grow all of your own food and then some to sell or barter so you could buy the things you couldn't grow like material to make your own clothing. Life was drastically different not that long ago.