Dearth

"He’s the candidate of the Medicare status quo in a country facing an entitlement crunch, of government bailouts in an economy with a crony capitalism problem, and of contraceptive mandates in a society with a birth dearth."

Just came across this passage in a NY Times piece. In the past whenever I saw the word 'dearth' used, it always was in the form of "a dearth of sth." Is it acceptable to say "a sth dearth," (i.e. a jobs dearth, a food dearth, a water dearth, etc.) as in the quoted passage above?

Thank you.