In this week’s New York Times, they published an article by a “Progressive” University Professor, asking if Progressives should begin to advocate for population growth – i.e. higher fertility rates, among American Women. This position has largely been the realm of Conservatives, who have watched as fertility rates among women have dropped far below replacement levels, causing left wing politicians to advocate for high and rather unmanageable levels of immigration (it is the number One issue in the USA and not far behind in Canada). The NYT article typically advocates for more paid maternity leave and subsidised child care. Amazingly, the US is the only developed country in the world without paid maternity leave. In Canada we have both paid for maternity leave and subsidized child care, but the fertility rate in Canada is substantially lower here than in the USA (1.33 children per woman in Canada vs. 1.66 children per woman in the USA). There is absolutely no evidence that these policies lead to higher fertility rates. With this article, however, there is evidence of a growing level of consensus among political leaders of all stripes, that more efforts should be made to increase fertility rates in developed countries. What that is remains a mystery.
The position of modern progressives and feminists is that women should be more than “breeders” and be allowed to find purpose and happiness outside the traditional family structure. This position has led to rather derogatory terms by feminists as “she doesn’t work” (when referring to stay at home moms), or “she’s just a housewife”. To suggest that women should have more children is often seen as a regressive step in our society, where women sacrifice their bodies and time to have more children. The Economist has written extensively about the career losses of mothers.
This leads to the question of whether we should ask women to have more children – and if so – what is society prepared to offer women to make this significant sacrifice in modern society.
Click below to view last week’s poll question results:
Which presidential candidate would be better for Canada Harris or Trump?
