Can Public Policy Encourage Women to Have More Babies?

How might public policy positively impact our drastically declining birth rate?

President Trump has suggested that all new parents receive a one-time $5,000 payout in the hopes of encouraging people to have more children. You likely had some kind of strong reaction to this statement. Whether that was surprise at a Republican recommending a social support, concern about forcing people to have more kids, or annoyance at how insignificant an amount is on the table—you’re definitely not alone. 

It’s clear that people are having fewer babies these days. But it’s the reasons behind this fact that are sometimes in question and need to be addressed. In this episode, I take a closer look at, and share my thoughts on, how policy has—and potentially could—impact plummeting birth rates in the U.S. and beyond. 

Consider the interplay between public policy and early childhood care, including:

• The statistical divide between how many kids women want and how many they’re having;
• The glaring problems that get in the way of having children in today’s economy;
• The family-friendly policies we’ve seen proposed, passed, and tabled til now;
• How far we need to take these initiatives if we want to reverse the birth rate decline.

Related Links:

• Episode 479, America’s Parents Are Not Okay - https://www.bossedup.org/podcast/episode479
• Episode 489, How the Cost of Childcare Has Become a Workforce Issue - https://www.bossedup.org/podcast/episode489
• Episode 495, New Prenatal Leave Law Benefits Pregnant Workers in New York - https://www.bossedup.org/podcast/episode495
• Episode 451, The Impact of Return-To-Office Mandates on Working Moms - https://www.bossedup.org/podcast/episode451
• Senior Living News, Help Address the Population’s ‘Inverted Pyramid’ - https://www.seniorlivingnews.com/help-address-the-populations-inverted-pyramid/
• New York Times, American Women Are Having Fewer Children Than They’d Like - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/13/upshot/american-fertility-is-falling-short-of-what-women-want.html
• New York Times, Stay-at-Home Parents Work Hard. Should They Be Paid? - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/03/upshot/paying-for-parenting.html
• New York Times, An Interview with Andrew Yang - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/12/podcasts/the-daily/andrew-yang-democratic-debate.html
• Abby Care, Get Paid to Care for Your Family in Colorado - https://www.abbycare.org/blog/get-paid-to-care-for-your-family-in-colorado
• Population and Development Review, The Gender Revolution: A Framework for Understanding Changing Family and Demographic Behavior - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2015.00045.x
• Compact Magazine, The Failure of Feminist Natalism by Darel E. Paul - https://www.compactmag.com/article/the-failure-of-feminist-natalism/
• TAKE ACTION with Bossed Up - https://www.bossedup.org/takeaction
• Bossed Up Courage Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/927776673968737/
• Bossed Up LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7071888/