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Birthrates are depressed because prime child-rearing ages, (22-35?) are increasingly unable to afford adequate housing and health insurance. Solve those, famili

Birthrates are depressed because prime child-rearing ages, (22-35?) are increasingly unable to afford adequate housing and health insurance. Solve those, families will feel more secure and be able to live close to relatives to help out with children, and the issue is much more tractable.

standardUser 6y ago
That perspective is not compatible with what we know about birthrates in other developed nations. More highly educated societies exhibit lower birthrates, more or less universally. Even within the US, people with more education have children later and fewer children, even though they also have higher incomes and better insurance, etc. In many European countries, families are given considerable support and incentives far beyond what American families receive, yet birthrates still continue to drop.
- genmud 6y ago
  Affordable housing isn't a US centric problem, I think that it is fair to say that it is still a big concern for many families across the world. If you look at what % people are paying for housing vs. other stuff, I imagine a pretty clear trend over the last 50-80 years would start to show.
ArkanExplorer 6y ago
And if you increase immigration, you increase labour supply, and demand for housing - reducing wages and increasing cost of living, which negatively impacts fertility. The fundamental problem in the USA is the broken healthcare and pension system, which allocates too many resources to baby boomers and unfairly burdens younger workers.
- standardUser 6y ago
  The fertility issue is not a unique American problem. It has been happening for decades in nearly every developed country, and it is consistently observed when populations become more highly educated. The reason it has hit most developed nations harder than the US is because the US historically has much higher immigration rates than other nations, and immigrants tend to skew younger.

standardUser 6y ago

That perspective is not compatible with what we know about birthrates in other developed nations. More highly educated societies exhibit lower birthrates, more or less universally. Even within the US, people with more education have children later and fewer children, even though they also have higher incomes and better insurance, etc. In many European countries, families are given considerable support and incentives far beyond what American families receive, yet birthrates still continue to drop.

genmud 6y ago
Affordable housing isn't a US centric problem, I think that it is fair to say that it is still a big concern for many families across the world. If you look at what % people are paying for housing vs. other stuff, I imagine a pretty clear trend over the last 50-80 years would start to show.

ArkanExplorer 6y ago

And if you increase immigration, you increase labour supply, and demand for housing - reducing wages and increasing cost of living, which negatively impacts fertility. The fundamental problem in the USA is the broken healthcare and pension system, which allocates too many resources to baby boomers and unfairly burdens younger workers.

standardUser 6y ago
The fertility issue is not a unique American problem. It has been happening for decades in nearly every developed country, and it is consistently observed when populations become more highly educated. The reason it has hit most developed nations harder than the US is because the US historically has much higher immigration rates than other nations, and immigrants tend to skew younger.