World Population Balance (known as Population Balance) is a left-of-center organization that opposes human population growth and pro-natal policies. The organization’s motto is “shrink toward abundance.” ¹ It claims that pronatalism harms the environment and leads to “unrelenting pressures, primarily on women, to bear children.” ²

Population Balance subscribes to the far-left concept of ecocentrism, which prioritizes the environment over human needs. ³ The organization claims that “pronatalist coercion” takes place in many ways across society, has said that human overconsumption has led to climate change, and said that the concept of patriarchy reduces women and girls to vessels of procreation. ⁴

History and Leadership

World Population Balance (known as Population Balance) was founded by David Paxson in 1991. ⁵ In 1993, Population Balance was given tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service. ⁶

Nandita Bajaj is the executive director of Population Balance. ⁷ She is an adjunct faculty member at Anitoch University, where she teaches a course that blames pronatalism for overpopulation and its supposed environmental impacts. ⁸

In February 2023, Bajaj wrote an article in Newsweek claiming that “coercive pro-birth policies have devastating impacts on people and the planet.” ⁹ She also wrote in the Washington Post that pronatalism ignores women’s empowerment and reproductive autonomy; ¹⁰ has said that abortion restrictions are a “natural outgrowth of coercive pronatalism;” ¹¹ and published articles on the far-left concepts of reproductive justice, ecological justice, and intergenerational justice. ¹²

Activities and Funding

World Population Balance is a left-of-center organization that promotes the concepts of population reduction and reducing economic production to reduce supposed environmental impacts on the planet (known as “degrowth”). ¹³

Population Balance’s motto is “shrink toward abundance.” ¹⁴ It seeks to dismantle pronatalism, which it defines as “sociocultural bias favoring biological reproduction” that leads to “unrelenting pressures, primarily on women, to bear children.” ¹⁵ As such, Population Balance supports what it identifies as liberated and informed choices for women when it comes to childbirth and the far-left concept of social justice. ¹⁶

Population Balance claims that “pronatalist coercion” takes place in many ways across society. It has said that pressures from extended family to raise children, religious messages encouraging pronatalism, medical and pharmaceutical messaging regarding fertility and in vitro fertilization (IVF), political messages regarding birth rates and “baby busts,” and capitalist messaging regarding the need for workers all contribute to this pronatalist messaging. ¹⁷ The organization has also said that the American left is in “population denialism” for wanting an increased population despite environmental crises. ¹⁸

The organization subscribes to the far-left concept of ecocentrism, which prioritizes the environment over human needs. ¹⁹ It is driven by far-left approaches to social, reproductive, and intergenerational justice and has claimed that pronatalism leads to ecological problems. ²⁰

Population Balance also promotes vasectomies for men, ²¹ supports the critical race theory-influenced concept of social justice, ²² has said that human overconsumption has led to climate change, and claimed that the patriarchy reduces women and girls to vessels of procreation. ²³

On its website, Population Balance makes a far-left “land acknowledgement” claiming that St. Paul, Minnesota, was “unfairly ceded by the Dakota Tribe to the United States in the Treaties of 1837 and 1851.” ²⁴

Additional Projects

Population Balance runs the Overpopulation Podcast, which is co-hosted by Population Balance executive director Nandita Bajaj. The podcast focuses on left-of-center policies on human rights, animal protection, ecological preservation, and other issues. ^{25 26}

The organization also runs the website Birthgap Facts. This site attempts to criticize and debunk the film Birthgap, which asserts that population collapse due to declining fertility rates is imminent and that childlessness is behind the crisis. ²⁷

Population Balance has won an award from British organization Population Matters ²⁸ and has sponsored a controversial advertising campaign in Canada that urged individuals to have smaller families. ²⁹

Funding

World Population Balance receives its funding from individual donations and grants. ³⁰ In 2023, Population Balance reported revenue of $373,123.08 and expenses of $216,725.76. ³¹ Of this money, Population balance received $200,096 in individual donations and $159,615 from foundation support. ³²

In 2022, Population Balance received grants from the Steven C. Leuthold Family Foundation, the Dudley Foundation, and Gaston Community Foundation. ³³ It has also received grants from the Greystone Foundation ³⁴ and Ecotrust. ³⁵

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