NHEG-September-October2022

September October 2022
NHEG EDGUIDE September - October 2022
In life, just as in economics, there are trade-offs. Most women realize they will likely not be able to be a successful
career woman, a dedicated mother, and a jaw-dropping homemaker all at the same time. There are choices to be
made here, and some women are simply deciding that motherhood is the role they can let go.
It’s important to point out that these are choices that used to be harder to make. In generations past, women were
shamed for not having kids, ostracized in society, or simply did not have the access to birth control they needed to
determine their own pathway. We’re moving away from that kind of culture, and the advancements in women’s healthcare
have empowered women to set their own course.
2. More Americans (Men and Women) Don’t Want to Have Kids
As a woman who has never wanted children, I’ve thought deeply about this topic. And I believe there are many others
who are looking at the same factors I am and reaching the same conclusion.
Motherhood is hard, physically, emotionally, and mentally. I personally never wanted to go through the pain of
childbirth, nor do I want to give myself the mental and emotional anxiety that comes with taking on this role. But as
pointed out above, this wasn’t always a calculation afforded to women.
MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2022
BY HANNAH COX
5 Reasons America’s Birthrate Is Plummeting
Elon Musk recently tweeted, “population collapse is th
biggest threat to civilization.”
The tweet included a link to an interview Musk gave
where he expanded on the subject. “Assuming there’s a
benevolent future with AI, I think the biggest problem
the world will face in 20 years is population collapse,”
Musk wrote. “Collapse. I want to emphasize this….Not
explosion, collapse.”
Musk has been known to raise this concern in the past
too. Last year he told the Wall Street Journal, “I can’t
emphasize this enough, there are not enough people.”
He also said that low and rapidly declining birth rates are
“one of the biggest risks to civilization.”
That the wealthiest and arguably one of the smartest
men on earth spends his days fixating on this issue
should be a signal to others that things might be more
dire than they think.
According to the US Census, “The US population grew at
a slower rate in 2021 than in any other year since the
founding of the nation.” And we’re not alone. According
to reporting by the BBC, “Researchers at the University of
Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
showed the global fertility rate nearly halved to 2.4 in
2017 - and their study, published in the Lancet, projects it
will fall below 1.7 by 2100.”
Population replacement rates are important for a society
to sustain itself. We need people to be born so that
there are workers to fill the various needs of the whole.
Old men cannot do the labor young men can do, young
adults are needed to care for the dying and aging. Fewer
people means less economic activity, smaller GDPs, less
The simple truth is, there are fewer people who want to bring kids into the world. Though
the reasons are diverse, 44 percent of non-parents between 18 to 49 say it is not to or not
at all likely they will procreate.
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innovation, and less competition.
It also means we have less division of labor. As Adam
Smith wrote in The Wealth of Nations, “The division of
labor is limited by the extent of the market.“ That means
people are less able to specialize and lean into their preferences
or areas of expertise in their work.
As a whole, the machine slows and then stagnates when
new firewood is not added to the furnace.
But while Elon Musk is absolutely correct about the problem
and the potential threat it poses to society, he has
not addressed (as far as I’ve seen) the underlying issues
creating it or discussed how they might be solved.
So, in an effort to address these issues, here are five reasons
people are increasingly choosing not to procreate,
along with the free-market responses that could address
them.
1. Higher Opportunity Costs for Women
The simple fact is, some people don’t want children. And
there are legitimate reasons for that choice.
No matter what Sheryl Sandberg wants you to believe,
women cannot have it all. “Leaning in” is a practice that
has left most women who attempt it barrelled over in
pain.
The reality is, while women tend to work outside the
home in most partnerships now, the vast majority of
childcare and household work continues to be laid at
their feet. This is an ongoing issue that causes many
women to choose not to have kids or not to have more
kids.
Furthermore, I love working—always have. And I’ve built a meaningful and impactful career I’d never be willing to give
up. While some women choose to work and have kids, that’s not a situation I’d choose for myself. I’d never put my
kids in government schools nor would I want them to spend their time with others in daycare. So when faced with the
choice of pursuing my work or raising kids, I simply choose the former. It’s where I want to spend my time. I’ve met
many others who feel the same way as me.
There are other factors as well. While the world has actually been improving (though you wouldn’t know it based on
the media), there are many people (myself included) who look around and still don’t find the world to be one they’d
want to bring kids into.
Thanks to birth control and the gains made under feminism, these are choices women now get to make that other generations
simply were not afforded. As a whole, this is a choice that should be accepted and even celebrated by society.
Are there free market solutions to these factors? Sure. School choice would make it easier for women to homeschool
or find other alternatives. Remote work would allow more people to balance child-rearing with their careers. And
improvements in our social climate would likely make people more optimistic about procreating.
Still, the simple truth is, there are fewer people who want to bring kids into the world. Though the reasons are diverse,
44 percent of non-parents between 18 to 49 say it is not to or not at all likely they will procreate. And that’s ok. But for
those who do want kids, we should strive to create a world where that option is as feasible as possible.
3. New Gender Norms Are … Complicated
While some women and men are simply choosing not to have kids, others wish to and cannot find adequate partners.
It’s important to remember that we are still merely a few decades into a new normal: the sexes having equal rights
and a fair playing field.
While this is long-overdue progress that should obviously be celebrated, it also means the social fabric of our society
is still fraught with landmines. For all of human history, women and men have not been in a situation where they were
equal under the law.
That means culturally and biologically women are programmed to look for partners who are stronger and wealthier
than they are, because those elements were essential for survival for most of our existence. But in recent decades,
women are largely surpassing men economically. They are more likely to obtain degrees, are catching up to men in
their earnings, and in 37 percent of US households, women pay the bills.
To this, many will say women should just lower their standards or not be so picky. But it’s not that simple. Again, to do
that requires overcoming significant evolutionary impulses on the part of women. And even when they do overcome
these factors, it still isn’t working out. In fact, marriages with female breadwinners are 50 percent more likely to end in
divorce. This illustrates that the power dynamic shift created between higher earning women and lower earning men
is one our society has not yet learned to live with.
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