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Wednesday, May 23rd, 2018

Of course US birth rates are falling – this is a harsh place to have a family

Author:     Amy Westervelt
Source:     The Guardian (U.K.)
Publication Date:     Mon 21 May 2018 10.45 EDT
 Link: Of course US birth rates are falling – this is a harsh place to have a family
Stephan:   You would think there were so many alarms bells ringing that we would finally begin talking about how to change our priorities and make wellbeing the first priority. The United States is no longer a very nice place to have children and have a family, and the social outcome data confirms this statement, as an objectively verifiable fact. Here is one aspect of the story. Please note this story is appearing in a British publication, so there are geopolitical implications as well.

America’s birth rate has fallen to a 30-year low.
Credit: Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty

The US is one of only four countries in the world with no government-subsidized maternity leave while 36% of the workforce are contract laborers with no access to benefits.

America’s birth rate has fallen to a 30-year low, let the hand-wringing and finger-pointing begin. It’s those selfish women, wanting careers before kids! Or, gasp, not wanting kids at all! It’s all those abortions! It’s Obama’s fault!

The reality is, for all its pro-family rhetoric, the US is a remarkably harsh place for families, and particularly for mothers. It’s a well-known fact, but one that bears repeating in this context, that the US is one of only four countries in the world with no government-subsidized maternity leave.  (emphasis added) The other three are Lesotho, Swaziland, and Papua New Guinea, countries that the US doesn’t tend to view as its peer group.

This fact is met with shrugs from those who assume that companies provide maternity leave. Only 56% do, and of those, just 6% offer full pay […]

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2 Comments

  1. Rev. Dean on Wednesday, May 23, 2018 at 7:39 pm

    Poor people, especially farmers, used to have many children especially to help on the farm. Now we have farms owned by rich people and these farms are more mechanized and do not need as many people, anyway. The rich have large families because they can afford them, whereas poor folks can barely afford to support themselves let alone children, too. That is why we have so many damned Republicans, because their children often vote the same as their parents, not to mention they are richer because they can afford to go through college without the debt that a poor person accumulates for a decent education. That is why the rich get richer and the poor get more poor and therefor cannot afford children.

  2. Marsha Roberts on Thursday, May 24, 2018 at 3:29 am

    Well, I think this is great news. There are already too many people in the world, which caused me to decide to remain childless. It was partially because of my crappy DNA, as well as my desire not to expose my offspring to the world as it is. Things looked mighty dramatic even so long ago. Climate change and it’s connection to over-population was the overarching reason.