The developed world faces a birth dearth, with total fertility rates below the 2.1 children per woman needed to sustain a population. Frustratingly, some of the biggest causes are things that few want to change–including greater economic opportunities for women, rising living standards, effective birth control, and declining teen pregnancy.
In recent years, however, researchers have identified some nuances in the situation. Sometimes, within the developed world, people with higher incomes or more education, or countries with stronger economies or more female labor-force participation, seem to be a bit more fertile. The “feminist fecundity” hypothesis contends that once countries transition to modern economies, the route to higher fertility lies in greater support for working women, so that they can balance work and kids.
This can have a whiff of wishful thinking and hinge on how one analyzes the relevant datasets. (See my skeptical previous writings on related ideas, here and here.) But it also makes some sense that in a world where most women work outside the home, facilitating working motherhood could yield fertility benefits.
Continue reading the entire piece here at the Institute for Family Studies
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Robert VerBruggen is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Follow him on Twitter here.
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