Tim Carney on Creating a More Family-Friendly Culture

Why are Americans having fewer children? And why do younger Americans seem resistant to the idea of having children at all?

In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Tim Carney, a senior fellow at AEI focusing on family, religion, and civil society in America. Tim discusses his upcoming book, “Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder than It Needs to Be.” Tim unpacks all the ways parenting has become harder--from the expectation that parents must provide children with every extracurricular opportunity, to the collapse of marriage and the lack of neighborhoods where kids can walk places. He also argues for a return to the idea that children are inherently valuable—not just vehicles for accomplishments. To conclude, Tim makes recommendations for how coaches, local legislators, educators, and parents can encourage younger people to prioritize getting married and starting a family as they are building their lives.

Resources

Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs to Be | Tim Carney

Civilizational Sadness: We Are Becoming Sad and Afraid, and So We Are Making Fewer Babies | Tim Carney

Show Notes

- 0:00:45 | What prompted you to write the book?

- 0:04:21 | Are there any ways we can make culture more family-friendly through public policy?

- 0:06:56 | What makes you different that allows you to see the problems here? What can we do to cultivate more individuals who value family and children?

- 0:09:35 | Do you need an underlying religious belief in order to see family differently?

- 0:13:52 | How is all of this affecting the trend of young people who are delaying marriage?

- 0:23:00 | How can we use research like Raj Chetty’s around upward mobility to strengthen the case for families?