[Indiscriminate chatter]
[Families boarding a river ferry]
[Fife and drum music]
[Narrator:] The birthrate inthe United States is declining.
This decline, however,will be dramatically offset
by the growing numbersof young parents
who are planningfamilies of their own.
[Patriotic music continues]
[Family chatter atthe dinner table]
Adding to this nation'srate of population growth,
one of the highest of theadvanced industrialized nations
is the continuationof large families
among the nation's poor.
[Family chatter atthe dinner table]
[Golf cart engine racing]
Citizens over 65are also increasing
in number and proportion.
An increase
brought about by remarkabledeath control methods.
[Engine running]
[Light fanciful muisic]
Affluent Americans are generallyunaware of the serious effects
this growth will have ongenerations yet unborn
and on the nation's poor.
[Fade to black]
[Fife and drum music]
[The Population Problem]
[U.S.A.: Seeds Of Change]
[Narrator:] The modern American,
the wealthiest man in the world
is the product ofa chain of events
in which risingpopulation has always
played an important role.
[Band marchingnear a cannon]
The great American dventurebegan with the population
of less than four million.
In colonial America, familiesof 8 to 10 were common.
In the intervening century anda half, family size declined.
But the process wasgradual, and immigration
helped keep population rising.
[Carriage wheels, horse’s hooves]
Growing populationpermitted America
to colonize its vast territoriesand later helped the nation
industrialize quicklyand efficiently.
In the 1930s, it seemed thatpopulation growth had reached
a point of stability,and any increase
would be slow and regular.
Families with two or lesschildren were common.
Many women delayed marriagehave failed to marry.
[Carriage wheels,horse’s hooves]
Among married women,many remained childless.
[Propeller plane engine]
But after WorldWar II, it became
fashionable tomarry, to marry early
and to produce childrenin rapid succession right
after marriage.
The proportion of very largefamilies continued to decline.
[Engine shutdown]
But because thiswas more than offset
by the fewest singleor childless women,
the average familysize increased.
[Inaudible]
The size of theAmerican families
since the end of WorldWar two has within it
the seeds of changefor the whole society.
[Graphic]
Most Americans controltheir family size,
but at a relatively high level.
The seemingly innocentfact that in the 1950s,
Americans have chosen to haveone more child per family
than they did in the '30s is nowradically increasing the size
and changing the agestructure of our population.
And with it, thefuture of the nation.
[Man in front of acomputer system]
[Conrad Taeuber, Assistant Directorof the Census]
[Conrad Taeuber:] Well, I thinkthe birthrate in the United
States is very muchthe response to
social and economic conditions.
My own explanation for what hashappened to us since the war
is that the whole outlook of ouryoung people toward the future
has changed contrastthis with the 1930s.
When people hesitatedto get married,
they hesitated tohave children, they
hesitated to have thesecond or third child,
because they simply didn't knowwhat their future was like.
One of the dramatic thingsin the changing population
structure of theUnited States is
what happened to us as aresult of the baby boom
immediately after World War II.
And of course,shortly, this is going
to mean a very sharp increasein the number of young families
and probably an increasein the number of babies.
[Young people dancing]
[Narrator:] The young are thelargest and fastest growing age
group in our population90 million Americans
nearly half thepopulation are under 25.
[Dance music]
Nearly a third ofthe total population
is a matter of fact is under 15.
Thus if the birthrate were cut in half,
the population wouldcontinue to grow rapidly
because of the ever-increasingnumber of potential mothers.
And more women marryin the United States,
and they marry younger.
These middle-classyoungsters will probably
adopt their parents mores andfollow their parents example.
Like their parents, they'llenjoy enough prosperity
to permit them to have aslarge a family as they desire.
Like their parents, eachof these youngsters one day
will have two to four children.
The girls will be in a hurryto marry because the mores
so dictate.
[Music and dancing]
[Inaudible]
[Philip M. Hauser, Director, Population Research and Training Center]
[Philip M. Hauser:] We are nowwitnessing the very peculiar situation
that our younger people and ourolder people, those 65 and over
are growing much morerapidly than people
of intermediate age.
I think perhaps the smartestgeneration of Americans
we ever had were the youngsterswho managed to get themselves
born during the Depression '30s.
At that time, themarriage rates went down
our birthrates went down.
These young peoplewere in great demand.
They were able to get jobs atrelatively high interest wage
rates.
They faced relativelylittle risk of unemployment
during their careers, greatchances for promotion.
They married early andcontributed
to a high birthrate.
The youngsters whomanaged to get themselves
born as part of thepost-war baby boom
or something less than bright.
They didn't choose theproper birth dates.
And as a matter of fact, theymay have a perfectly different
outlook as far as theircareers are concerned.
Young persons, 20 to 24 years of age
who diminished by 6 percent duringthe 50s will increase by 54 percent
during the 60s.
Now imagine the swing from a6 percent decline to a 54 percent increase
in adjoining decades.
This is the kindof tidal wave that
is hitting ourschool systems, that
is hitting our economy,that is creating many
of the problems thatconfront this specific cohort
or generation of youngsters.
[Motorcycle engine starts]
[Narrator:] Theneeds of the young
are the greatest challengewhich rising population offers
America.
Their first demandhas been in education.
During the '60s, high schoolenrolments across the nation
will double.
[Student chatter]
Yet numbers of qualifiedteachers and classroom space
are falling behind.
With this rapid growth ofour student population,
the greatest concern is thatthe quality of Education
will suffer.
[Band pep-rally]
College enrollmentwill increase by 100 percent
during the present decadefrom four million in 1960
to eight million by 1970.
[Applause]
[stamper] The tutorial functionof the university
may suffer unless greatercommitments are made to relieve
the burden of these numbers.
In an age whichdemands excellence,
we either must makea greater investment
in the growth ofour schools or face
the corrosive effectsof overcrowding
on the quality of education.
There is hardly amore pressing decision
before the American publicas the baby boom begins
to bear its own children.
The equally large oreven larger college
generation of the future.
[Inaudible]
[Daniel P. Moynihan,Assistant Secretary of Labor]
[Daniel P. Moynihan:]Providing the jobs
for the young people nowrolling into the workforce
is without any question,the single most pressing
social issue of our time.
We have not solved the problemof employment in America.
And we are somewhatsingular among
the industrial democraciesand not having done so.
The Department of Laborworkforce projections
for the near futureshow an expected increase
in the workforce of 12million persons by 1972.
Now we have twoclear alternatives
in what we do to meet thisnew demand, this new need.
If we grow over this periodat the rate of growth which
occurred last year,1964, we'll have jobs
for those 12 million persons.
On the other hand, if we grow atthe rate, which we average say
from 1957 to 1963, wewon't come anywhere
near finding 12 million new jobsfor 12 million new job seekers.
And what you'll have isby 1972 is a first class
political and socialcrisis in this nation.
[Conrad Taeuber:] We're continuingto grow older in one sense
that it will continue to havea larger number of older people
partly because back in the1890s, some 60 years ago,
65 years ago, the numberof births was going up
and also in part because we hada good many immigrants coming
in the early part ofthe 1900s who are now
reaching the upper ages.
[Softball game]
[Public address announcer:]
Next batter is Harry Howland--Harry is from the state
of Delaware, one of ouroldest active players 86.
[Bat striking the ball]
[Narrator:] Older people arethe second fastest growing age
group within our population.
19 million Americansare over 65.
[Crowd chatter]
The reason-- [?] control.
A child born today canexpect to live to age 60
with the same probabilitythat he had to live to age 10
a century ago.
[Ball game continues]
[Small dining area]
Some older peoplecontinue to work.
This couple aresocial work trainees.
Both over 70, they're hopefulof leading other senior citizens
to this kind of work andto continuing fulfillment.
[Woman at table:] For three years,but I had been there before.
Students like myself, I don't goanywhere in the evenings, [?].
[Traffic sounds]
[Narrator:] However,many older people
think of retirement in termsof leisure and an end to work.
[Shuttle bus engine]
Laguna Hills Leisure Worldis one of the growing number
of retirement villagesbuilt to accommodate
the growing older population.
There are other leisure worldsgoing up all over the country.
Though they may notrepresent the best
answer for theelderly citizen, they
are necessary to care forthe populations second
fastest growing segment.
[Engine noise]
Because we've never had toaccommodate large numbers
of older people in the past.
Their special problemsare relatively new to us
unlike other nations we've onlybegun to consider their needs.
[Engine noise]
[Tractor tiller rotating]
Not only is America growingyounger, older, and faster,
it is also moving.
Internal migration isanother important factor
in the changing populationof the United States.
On the land, an earlier form ofautomation has had its effect.
[Tractor engine]
With the rise ofmechanical agriculture
and the growth of big farms,the need for human labor
has diminished.
[Music: "How Can I Keepfrom Singing"]
In the last halfcentury, rural population
has dropped by more than30 percent as people moved off
the land to the cities.
[Abandoned sites in the city]
[Family walks pasta burial headstone]
The exodus fromthe land is still
going on today, lednow by the rural poor.
The last remnants ofthe old land system
is that fifth of thepopulation which
bears the least resemblance tothe image of modern America.
The poorest is theSouthern Negro.
[Music continues]
[Dilapidated farm]
[Women in rundown house]
[Speaker 1:] What do you thinkdraws these...
[Narrator:] Landless, illiterate,
without the simplestamenities of American life.
The Negro sharecropperis also the victim
of a disaster of his own doing...the number of his children.
However, his childrenare learning.
And as they learn,they are leaving.
[Indiscriminate chatter]
Slowly, the old way is changing.
[Baby crying, indiscriminate chatter]
[Metal clanking]
Internal migration hasbrought not only the poor.
But the bulk of ourpopulation to the city.
70 percent of the nation now livesin some urban centers.
By the end of the century,it may be as high as 90 percent.
[Whistle]
[City traffic]
[Alarm sound]
[Whistle]
[Sirens]
[Subway train track noise]
The city is the goal notonly of the Southern Negro,
but of many otherminority groups.
The Puerto Rican, the Mexican,and the Appalachian white.
By virtue of hiscolor, the poor white
has been dealt a better deal.
He's not as impoverishedas the rural Negro.
But by his own standards,he is still poor.
And he often sharescommon disadvantages.
He has few skills.
He often cannot read or write.
In the city, the man who cannoteven sign his name can find
little steady work.
[Music]
[Teacher:] Turn to page 14.
[Narrator:] These adultsare learning to read.
They're attempting tomaster the simplest
skill of any civilized people.
[Class:] Ben likes the ham.
The most importantquestion is whether they'll
succeed soon enough, andin large enough numbers
to stem the heritage of povertyfrom their own generation
to the next.
[Student:] Ben likes the ham.
[Teacher:] Very good,nice, sharp pronunciation.
Mr. Carlson, please.
[Mr. Carlson:] Ben likes the hand.
Then like the hand.
[Teacher:] Continuearound the table.
[Student:] Ben like the hand.
[Fade to black]
[Thud]
[Children in bed]
[Narrator:] Because the poorbeget poor and these poor beget
other poor, andbecause we've not yet
found a way out of thisculture
of intergenerational dependency.
There are those who maintainthe poor will always be with us.
[Footsteps]
[Lightswitch click]
[Footsteps]
[Lights out]
[Busy clinic chatter]
This is a public healthclinic in Chicago
that provides birth controlinformation and devices.
The Chicago programis under the direction
of the Board of Health.
Efforts in this field as yethave been relatively guarded.
The majority ofmiddle-class Americans
practice some formof birth control.
It is the poor who most needsome form of birth control.
The poor are growing fasterthan any other economic group.
The means to abolishpoverty are available.
The longer we delay,the more it will cost.
[Door bangs]
[Indiscriminate chatter]
[Loud exhaust fan]
The unskilled and semi-skilled,most often non-white,
have been the firstto feel the effect
of rapid technological change.
It is on those with lessthan a high school education
that automation hasthe greatest impact.
[Bakery machines clicking]
Automation hasbrought many benefits.
But its greatestgood can only be
derived from the handsof a skilled workforce.
[Bakery machines clicking]
Not only must the economybe flexible enough
to receive the increasingnumbers of new workers,
but we must ensure thatthose workers are educated
and flexible enough to adapt toour technological revolution.
[Data processing equipmentcirca 1969]
[Repetitive musical tone]
Those aspects of congestionwhich affect us more
intimately are notalways dramatic.
Yet in bits andpieces they erode away
the quality of our daily lives.
[Busy diner serving patrons]
[Music ends]
[Highway overpass]
The car is the most evidentsymbol of our prosperity,
but it is also the mostaccomplished instrument
of congestion.
[Close-up shot of passing cars]
[Cars whooshing by]
[Horns blaring, wheels screeching]
[Terrible congestion,frustrated motorists]
[Woodwind whimsical music]
[Young man on bike cuts throughtraffic congestion]
[Woodwind, whimsical music]
It's growing numbers farexceed the capacity of present
and projectedurban road systems.
Automobile exhaust isalso a major contributor
to air pollution.
[Highway traffic]
Our mobility carries as muchfarther than the suburbs.
With our growing prosperityand increased leisure time,
we've become a greatoutdoor people.
[Whimsical music]
Seasonally, whole segments ofthe urban population decamp
for the beachesand slopes, where
people encounterexactly what they
wish to avoid other people.
[Lively flute music]
[Tense repetitive music]
[Skiers in long lines]
[Crowded beach]
[Light jazz music]
[Crowded beach]
Recreation space is alreadyin critical short supply.
[Crowded beach]
[Aerial view of a suburb]
Eventually, thegrowing urban areas
coalesce, forming strip cities.
In the future, there willbe three of tremendous size.
One spreading over thecentral Midwest, one
along the Eastern seaboardstretching from Boston
to Washington, andthe third covering
the West Coast between SanFrancisco and Los Angeles.
[Ticking and tapping music]
Since the end of WorldWar II, our cities
have expanded outward asa result of congestion,
and the increased mobilityof the middle class.
[Ticking and tapping music]
[Aerial landscape]
[Farm setting,bulldozer plowing brush]
This expansion carriesthe urban complex,
far from its core city,absorbing towns, farmland,
everything in its path.
[Bulldozer engine roar, twigs snapping]
Farmland is an easy victim.
Because it's flat, it'sideal for development.
As taxes go up, therelatively low
dollar return of agriculturemakes it unprofitable
for many marginalfarmers to continue.
[Chainsaw engine cycling]
[Construction site hammering]
Over a million acres offarmland are put to urban uses
each year.
The effect of this lossis a matter of dispute.
Some feel our increasingability to produce food
makes this loss ofland unimportant.
Others that wewill need this land
to feed our growing population.
And perhaps that ofother parts of the world.
This issue is too crucialto debate much longer.
It is time to decide.
[Hammering]
[Soft tense music]
There are great areas of unusedland in the United States.
Density of populationis relatively low.
[Soft tense music]
But good land isalready at a premium,
especially in California,the fastest growing state
in the Union.
[Real stage sign,Silver Queen Estates]
As a result, peopleare invited to settle
where the hardiest pioneerwould have feared to stop.
[Campers approaching]
[Traffic sound]
After in-migration to thecities, migration to the West
is the most significantmovement of our population.
Over 1,000 new people arrivein California every day.
The Golden State once afrontier is filling up.
[Tense music]
[Guard and familyconsult a map]
[Cars drive off]
[The Honorable Pat Brown,Governor of California]
[Pat Brown:] Of course,there's no virtue in bigness.
But bigness can destroyus if we're not careful.
Every single family cominginto the state of California
necessitates theinvestment of $17,000
in new streets, new sidewalks,new roads, new schools,
new water facilities, new rapidtransportation, new pollution
controls of various kinds.
If we do those thingsand we invest in water,
in education, in roads, inhighways, in recreation,
in the preservationof scenic areas,
then Californiawill be able to take
care of this tremendous growth.
If we don't, I'm alittle bit afraid
that this great andbeautiful state will not
be the place that I knew asa boy and as a young man,
and even as I know it today.
[School children gathered]
[Cannon ignited]
[Cannon explosion]
[Narrator:] Our image ofourselves is changing.
Once Americans could takepride in growing population,
it was buildingtheir prosperity.
[Fife and drum music]
This is no longerso simple or true.
The problems of populationin the United States
should be of seriousconcern to all Americans.
Americans will neverface the problems
which uncontrolledpopulation is brought
to 2/3 of the world innations such as India.
[Patriotic music continues]
Most of us are part of the largeand prosperous middle class,
which is responsible for therecent changes in the size,
age, and movementof our population.
85 percent of American couples practicesome form of birth control.
This fact means thatwe as individuals
can determine how we will grow.
If we choose a moremoderate rate of growth,
future generationswill inherit a world
of more manageable proportions,keeping at least a portion
of those qualitiesof life, which
we feel worth preserving today.
Yet if we continue to grow atthe same rate at which we have
from 1947 onward, there willbe 400 million Americans
or more by the year 2000.
The problems we seetoday will by then
of assumed dangerousproportions,
unless parents beginto limit family size.
[Montage of people on asightseeing ferry]
[Patriotic music continues]
[Family projecting home movies]
[Produced by: In-Sight Productions, Inc. Charles Vaughan, President]
[Writer: Edward Pfister]
[Narrator: Ron Allen]
[Produced under a grant from: Cordelia S. May]
[Hour version produced in associationwith United States Productions, Inc.]
[Francis C. Thayer, President]
[Special Thanks: Film Unit Bureau of Audio Visual Instruction, N.Y. City Board of Education]
[Credits]
[Animated NET logo,hectic music]
[Announcer:] This is NET, theNational Educational
Television network.