NHEG-September-October2022

September October 2022
NHEG EDGUIDE September - October 2022
Furthermore, while men say they are fine with dating women who are smarter than them, psychological studies have
revealed otherwise. Men are also biologically inclined to be providers and to be competitive. But for the first time in
history, they’re having to compete with women, and outcome wise, they’re often ending up in second place. It turns
out they don’t find this so appealing in practice.
The fact that LDS and evangelical families are still having more children backs all of this up. Since gender norms are
changing more slowly in these communities, it would seem their relationships are not suffering the same growing
pains and therefore the number of children they are having is falling more slowly.
These are societal problems, not ones suited for public policy. And the harsh reality is that it will probably take decades
for us to sort out this new landscape for romantic relationships and for people to evolve past the male provider/
female nurturer gender stereotypes. But they are challenges worth examining and overcoming, and at an individual
level, we can all look for ways to foster romantic relationships that take these factors into consideration.
5. Demographic Transition Theory
Finally, many economists point to something called the demographic transition theory to explain the decrease in childbirth.
In short, because child mortality rates have dropped so precipitously under capitalism people don’t have to have
as many kids.
In generations past, as terrible as it was, parents would have a lot of kids with the assumption that several would die.
That is no longer the case. People can plan how many children they want to have with a high level of certainty that
those kids will live into adulthood.
Furthermore, as societies have become less male-centric, parents don’t have to keep having kids until they have a
boy. For inheritance, property, and societal reasons, this used to be a goal for many people, but it is one that is quickly
diminishing.
4. Raising Children Is Getting Super Expensive
Even for people who do want to have kids and manage to find the right partner, there are still a multitude of landmines
they must overcome before they can comfortably procreate, and they all trace back to affordability.
Many of these are issues we as a society can address through free-market solutions. It’s time we have that conversation.
A flourishing society would naturally incentivize people to procreate. But that requires a steady currency, good job
market, relatively safe communities, the promise of a good education, and economic factors that make it affordable to
have and raise a child.
According to Merrill Lynch, it currently costs $230,000 to raise a kid to age 18. That’s a jaw-dropping amount, especially
when one considers record-breaking inflation, wage stagnation, and economic uncertainty created by the reckless
printing and spending policies of the US government.
Source: The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)
https://fee.org/
The reasons for these high costs also trace back to the government. Childcare costs have been soaring for decades
thanks to extreme government regulations and restrictions on these services. In one survey, 85 percent of parents
reported spending 10 percent or more of their household income on child care.
Education is another major financial calculation in these decisions. There’s no way to sugarcoat it, government schools
are atrocious and private schooling or alternative options can be expensive or unfeasible. Many parents are also hesitant
to place their kids in government schools because of gun-free zones that make them sitting ducks.
And then there’s college. The price of higher education is astronomical, and that is solely due to government subsidies
and loans. But while evidence increasingly shows college is not a good investment for most, many parents still desire
to give their kids every opportunity they can and thus factor this in.
Additionally, healthcare costs continue to rise in the country thanks to the government increasingly taking over our
system. Insurance prices shot up after Obamacare and there is no end in sight for many.
Finally, there are the costs of infertility. A growing number of Americans are having trouble getting pregnant when
they want to. Some blame this on problems with our nutrition. Others say it’s because people are having kids later in
life. Likely there are multiple reasons. But whatever the cause, fertility assistance is extremely expensive and a cost
many cannot afford.
Relatedly, many economists point to the quantity-quality tradeoff theory which implies that a reduction in fertility
would lead to more human capital investment per child. Meaning, people would rather invest their love, finances, and
attention into a smaller number of children versus spreading it across a large family.
There are many public policy reforms that would bring these costs down. But for the time-being it is understandable
why for some the math is simply not adding up. People want to know they can give their kids a brighter and better
future than they themselves had, and for now, that simply isn’t true for a lot of people.
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