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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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The Birthrate Debate: Childcare at the Center?

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Thursday, December 20, 2012   

NEW YORK - It may be because of the recession, or it may be caused by other, wider-ranging factors, but a recent dip in the U.S. birthrate has stirred up a lot of discussion. According to the Pew Research Center, U.S. birthrates fell rapidly between 2007 and 2011 to the lowest ever recorded, with just 63 births per 1,000 women of childbearing age.

Some conservative commentators are fretting that if our production of future workers and taxpayers continues to fall off, so will America's competitive standing in the world. They suggest American women may be just shirking from motherhood out of some sort of selfishness.

Valerie Young of the National Association of Mothers' Centers couldn't disagree more.

"For anybody who has been a mother or cared for another human being for any extended length of time, the word 'selfish' doesn't even come into it."

She says the country's policy makers need to reinforce family-friendly policies, such as paid sick days and family and medical leave insurance - things that will ease families' financial burdens and reduce the number of women who defer or forgo motherhood.

A surprise in the Pew birthrate report is that the drop was led by immigrant women, who have historically had more kids than the native-born. Young says she thinks the recession is not the only factor.

"When you hear these ideas being expressed, these values, of women saying, 'I could make my life easier by limiting the number of children I have and by using birth control to space out the pregnancies,' that to me talks more about a behavior shift."

The birthrate debate should lead to solutions, Young says.

"A woman should be able to have more economic security as a mother as well as an employed person. We need paid family medical leave and paid sick days. We need social security benefits for family caregivers."

The heart of the birthrate drop, Young says, may be Americans' fundamentally wrong approach to motherhood.

"The way we characterize it as is a purely individual pursuit: 'You had those children, so if you have difficulty finding child care or if you can't find a job that lets you raise your children and run your household while you make a living, that's your problem.'"




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