Leadership Resource Group, a single person consulting company based in McAllen, compiled public data from the US Census Bureau that shows that the Rio Grande Valley’s population growth has slowed tremendously over the last eight years and we can probably blame it all on the millennials because of course it would be their fucking fault.
Following a steady increase of population growth spanning approximately 40 years, the data revealed that year to year from 2010 and 2011, the population growth for Hidalgo County went from 2.71% down to 1.30%, bottoming out to 0.89% just last year. Cameron County didn’t fare much better with numbers for the same years going from 1.74% to 0.68%; according to the same report, Willacy County has lost 2.8% since 2010.
Arnoldo Mata, who owns Leadership Resource Group, spoke to The Valley Morning Star’s Rick Kelley and readily admitted that the flux of migration from Central America and Mexico may not be factored into these numbers since, again, this data is only sourced from the US Census Bureau. Mata also admits that when dealing with projections, there’s certainly a margin of error to consider and that these numbers will become more solid once the data from the 2020 census is processed and released.
Between 2000 through 2010, the Valley was booming as one of the fastest growing areas in the country with businesses flocking to set up shop. Now, that boom might actually be over and with it, the hope of attracting new businesses (whether the jobs would be decent is an entirely different story) as well as potentially receiving more federal and state funding.
Just last week, Governor Abbott signed into law the formation of the newly merged “Rio Grande Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization” (MPO) which could bring more federal dollars for infrastructure projects and, honestly, is the Valley’s saving grace at the moment in the face of a potential population growth fallout.
As for reasons why this is occurring, Mata pointed out that low birth rates are likely playing a large factor into why the Valley’s growth has suddenly plateaued.
According to data compiled by Kelley from the National Center for Health Statistics, in 2006, Hidalgo County’s birth rate for women between the ages of 15-44 was 110.6 births per 1,000 women. In 2016, that rate dropped dramatically to 82.4 births/1,000 women. For comparison, the US birth rate dropped from 68.5 to 62 births/1,000 women.
If we consider the ages and the years of the sample sizes, the latter numbers squarely put millennials right in the crosshairs of this problem.
Millennials and their insufferable need to feel relevant and desired will probably go down as the worst (period) generation (period) ever (period), but now, we can thank our local RGV chapter for finally killing our business boom.
Whether it’s because most are broke and can’t really afford to have a kid, or the abstinence “don’t have sex or your dick will fall off” method of teaching sex that was taught up until 2008 may have actually worked, or because of their crippling indecisiveness due to “FOMO,” or if they’re simply too narcissistic to care about having kids, studies reveal that millennials across the board are simply not having children.
As a fellow millennial, let me just say that what needs to happen is that we all need to a do a little less worrying about our profiles and do a LOT more fucking on our part.
First Schlitterbahn then Whataburger and now THIS!
Guys this is UNACCEPTABLE!
Do you guys want a Smoothie King? A Shake Shack? –GET TO FUCKING
Do you guys want a 2nd causeway to the island built ASAP? –GET TO FUCKING
Do you guys want a Top Golf on Top of The Top Gold? –GET TO FUCKING
We’re at DEFCON 1 and we need to fuck like there’s no tomorrow. Guys, burn your condoms and girls, chuck out your birth control and fuck like our great grandparents did.
Let’s do this, you guys not just because the valley needs you, no, but because YOU need you.
