Surprised more people aren’t talking about this. I’m going to go out on a limb and say: If this was written by a woman, she wouldn’t need 11K words to explain why (US) birth rates have gone down. Have you seen the way this country treats women, mothers and children? - ThreadSky

gracelp.bsky.social • 1 day ago

Surprised more people aren’t talking about this. I’m going to go out on a limb and say: If this was written by a woman, she wouldn’t need 11K words to explain why (US) birth rates have gone down. Have you seen the way this country treats women, mothers and children?

Reposted from Michael Luo

Utterly fascinating from Gideon Lewis-Kraus: “The global population is projected to grow for about another half century. Then it will contract. This is unprecedented.” The Population Implosion www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

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standardtree.bsky.social•19 hours ago

It’s pretty easy to figure out. I just screen shot what I’d presume is what is happening. But I’m sure politicians and rapey religious people will try and use this info to make another claim why women cannot be allowed their natural born and inalienable autonomy.

nuggetspoetry.bsky.social•18 hours ago

But we're not seeing increasing death rates, nor a correlation between scarcity and population decline. What we're observing is almost the opposite. Wealthy nations are reproducing at sub-replacement rates while less wealthy nations still have booming birth rates.

coganosity2.bsky.social•1 day ago

They want babies?Then give us funding and supports. Otherwise? No. That’s what works in other countries .

thisisbenphelps.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Birthrates are even lower in Sweden than here.

desertharper.bsky.social•17 hours ago

I am so incredibly sick of "dear god we need to breed more" articles when there are 8.2 BILLION people on this planet. We know what they really mean by "not having enough kids".

looniestrikevictim.bsky.social•10 hours ago

I don’t think the misogyny is discussed enough as a reason.

Married women are miserable. More women are choosing to not attach themselves to men, because they do not want to be used as incubators and labourers.
Men are not held responsible for hurting us, and there’s no help to heal after…

lizaboyd.bsky.social•1 day ago

“Unprecedented!” he exclaims

Why has this never happened before in human history? Such a mystery!

- 1960s: Pill invented
- 1960s: Women can get their own bank accounts
- 1990s: Women can get business loans
- 2010: All states have no-fault divorce

It’s amazing what happens when women have options!

lulu-mri.bsky.social•1 day ago

Shhhh. That will just make them come for our rights.

gracelp.bsky.social•1 day ago

“The End of Children” author interviewed ordinary women in Korea but did not quote from the lived experiences of American women—just scientists and authors. The elephant in the room is our woefully inadequate social safety net—the U.S. is the only industrialized nation without paid parental leave.

gracelp.bsky.social•1 day ago

Also: I resent how David Hogg is portrayed as a “selfish” liberal activist who doesn’t want children, omitting the context that he survived the Parkland school shooting that killed 14 of his classmates. The failure to enact gun control is the *single biggest betrayal* of generations of U.S. children

bimblinghill.bsky.social•1 day ago

It's always telling when people go after Hogg

caralopezlee.bsky.social•1 day ago

Your insights and straight talk are always a breath of fresh air, Grace. 😁

jrosew.bsky.social•22 hours ago

I have young kids and the hostility of public spaces to kids in the US and (some of) Europe makes it very challenging. In contrast when I’m in African, Asian, Latin American countries, my kids are welcomed in buses, restaurants, people’s homes etc. Aside from policy, social norms play a big role!

jrosew.bsky.social•22 hours ago

I should have qualified some Asian countries too of course. Just saying that yes, lived experience is really important, but Northern European countries have very good policies on kids but terrible community norms, so it makes it hard to exist in society once you have kids. So, people opt out!

robareowl.bsky.social•21 hours ago

It wasn’t that long ago we were panicking about having too many people on the planet. I think the thing that goes unsaid is that (some people think) there are too many of “those” babies (poor, BIPOC, in developing countries) and not enough of the “right” babies (white, rich, Western).

isabellesogay.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Yes, the overpopulation scares are pure white supremacist eugenicist propaganda, always have been.

aloner.bsky.social•1 day ago

📌

findeepoca.bsky.social•1 day ago

Then how come Germany shows more or less the same graph (but worse) with a fully-functioning welfare state, maternity leave, tax relief, 25 mandatory vacation days and as many sick days as necessary?

belindatan.bsky.social•1 day ago

Hmm I take it to mean that the trend is downward overall, but likely be gentler in countries that make child-raising easier, and steeper in countries that make child-raising hard. Wouldn’t discount environmental factors lowering sperm count and quality too—polluted regions will see lower childbirths

thisisbenphelps.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Highest birthrates are in extremely poor undeveloped countries. Strong welfare-state and wealthy countries (Denmark, Sweden) have lower birthrates than the U.S.

dwmarkham.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Poor, undeveloped counties likely have poor, undeveloped family planning services/facilities

findeepoca.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Of course they do. What is your point?

Im not arguing against welfare states. Im saying they dont increase birthrate.

dwmarkham.bsky.social•21 hours ago

The response is to Ben Phelps' post.

findeepoca.bsky.social•1 day ago

Where is your evidence?

If you compare birth rate graphs for developed countries, they all look the same. If you compared birth rate graphs for very poor countries, they all look more or less the same.

What's up with that then? Where's the evidence for "help moms and more babies will come"?

cyneheard.bsky.social•1 day ago

It's not just the support at birth - where the US is woefully lacking - it's that raising kids is expensive. Day care, increased housing costs, etc. etc.

tomeclarke.bsky.social•1 day ago

Right, but birth rates are going down in places that have excellent provision In those areas.

It's not a sufficient explanation.

anspara.bsky.social•1 day ago

Parenting is still seen as incompatible with a career. Irrespective of the welfare state, women are aware they need to work and that having a child continues to dent careers etc. Add in angst about the state of the world and bringing up a child is a recipe for heartache.

findeepoca.bsky.social•23 hours ago

That's not true for Germany. I've worked in Startups and consolidated corporations, women have kids and careers.

Regardless: you're accepting, then, than welfare state has 0 impact on birth rates (as per the graphs) and now you adscribe everything to career psychology? What should change, then?

rosaluxlux.bsky.social•22 hours ago

I heard from German women that German schools send the kids home for lunch and expect someone to be home for them. It's that no longer true?

findeepoca.bsky.social•23 hours ago

You're saying things that you feel (me too) and assume that they must impact birth rates. But they don't.

What impacts birth rate is women being free and having access to contraceptives.

Freedom for women is both ethically good and leads to lower birth rates. Everywhere all the time. Deal with it.

findeepoca.bsky.social•1 day ago

That doesn't answer my question. Germany has public schooling widely available, public free kindergarten. Why no more babies then?

If say welfare state makes babies and it doesn't, why have it?

I believe in the welfare state because its good and fair, not because it makes babies. Which it doesn't.

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