Americans Are Having Fewer Babies Than Ever. What Can Be Done About It?

WSJ What’s News

The Wall Street Journal

Daily News, News

4.1 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 13 October 2024

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This spring the U.S. fertility rate dropped to another historic low. And a potential American baby bust has become a campaign issue. WSJ Chief Economics Commentator Greg Ip answers your questions on the causes and consequences of the falling fertility rate in the U.S. And reporter Liz Whyte explains what policies the presidential candidates are proposing and how they may—or may not—make an impact. Charlotte Gartenberg hosts. Further Reading How America’s Baby Bust Became an Election Issue Why Tech Elites Want Us All to Have More Kids More Cash for Kids Is Popular. It Might Not Be Wise. Suddenly There Aren’t Enough Babies. The Whole World Is Alarmed. Why JD Vance Worries About Childlessness Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:29.2	Hey what's news listeners. It's Sunday October 13th. I'm Charlotte
0:36.0	Gartenberg for the Wall Street Journal. This is What's News Sunday, the show
0:39.9	where we tackle the big questions about the biggest stories in the news by
0:43.4	reaching out to our colleagues across the newsroom to help explain what's
0:46.6	happening in our world. Both presidential candidates are pitching tax
0:50.5	incentives that could encourage people to have children.
0:53.9	That's after the US fertility rate dropped to historic lows this spring.
0:58.1	But could these incentives work?
1:00.4	You've got questions.
1:01.6	Let's get to it.
1:06.0	Fertility is falling all over the world. For women over all levels of income, education and labor force participation.
1:11.0	The total fertility rate in the US, which is how many children a woman is expected to bear over her lifetime, fell to 1.62 last year.
1:20.0	That's the lowest on record and well below the 2.1 replacement rate needed to keep population
	...

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