You can call me Dr. Mom
January 19, 2018 5:52 PM Subscribe
The U.S. Fertility Rate Is Down, Yet More Women Are Mothers The increase has been especially steep among groups of women who hadn’t been having as many babies: those with advanced degrees, and those who never marry. Today, 55 percent of never-married women ages 40 to 44 have at least one child, up from 31 percent two decades ago, Pew found.
80 percent of women with professional degrees or doctorates have a child by the time they are 44, compared with 65 percent two decades ago, perhaps indicating that fewer women see long educations or demanding careers as a bar to having a family. And motherhood among women who have never married has risen across racial and educational groups.
And just for fun: Babies, the official trailer.
80 percent of women with professional degrees or doctorates have a child by the time they are 44, compared with 65 percent two decades ago, perhaps indicating that fewer women see long educations or demanding careers as a bar to having a family. And motherhood among women who have never married has risen across racial and educational groups.
And just for fun: Babies, the official trailer.
If young women continue to decide not to have children, or if they struggle to do so after waiting too long, it could depress the economy and fray the safety net.
So THAT'S who's to blame, aHA
posted by bleep at 7:50 PM on January 19, 2018 [19 favorites]
So THAT'S who's to blame, aHA
posted by bleep at 7:50 PM on January 19, 2018 [19 favorites]
It’s always us, isn’t it, bleep. There’s no right way to be a woman.
posted by ocherdraco at 9:23 PM on January 19, 2018 [29 favorites]
posted by ocherdraco at 9:23 PM on January 19, 2018 [29 favorites]
let women do what they want. if they don't have the means, support them to do whatever they want. fertility needs to stabilize, as this country overconsumes the planet; but the need to slow population growth or lower consumption is secondary to giving women freedom--if women have freedom to be mothers or not be mothers, a lot of other collective freedoms follow.
if the economy has a problem with that freedom, the problem is the economy, not women.
posted by eustatic at 11:24 PM on January 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
if the economy has a problem with that freedom, the problem is the economy, not women.
posted by eustatic at 11:24 PM on January 19, 2018 [6 favorites]
Well gosh maybe if women had access to subsidized prenatal care, universal health care, paid parental leave, subsidized child care, family friendly work places, and lived in a country without shamingly high maternal and fetal mortality rates compared with the rest of the world, maybe they’d have more babies. Just a hunch.
No one ever assumes women look at our choices and make rational decisions.
posted by supercrayon at 12:10 AM on January 20, 2018 [61 favorites]
No one ever assumes women look at our choices and make rational decisions.
posted by supercrayon at 12:10 AM on January 20, 2018 [61 favorites]
Falling US fertility rates are only a problem if there isn't enough immigration to make up for the losses.
Of course the people who worry about declining birth rates are also usually the same people obsessed with restricting immigration. Go figure.
posted by happyroach at 12:38 AM on January 20, 2018 [14 favorites]
Of course the people who worry about declining birth rates are also usually the same people obsessed with restricting immigration. Go figure.
posted by happyroach at 12:38 AM on January 20, 2018 [14 favorites]
We got all the way down to the first graph before they used the term "given birth." Before that, I wasn't sure where I fit in with these women who "have children" or "became mothers." I am a mother, I have children, but I've never given birth. My kids are immigrants, so am I helping the fertility rate or not?
posted by Miss Cellania at 1:55 AM on January 20, 2018 [12 favorites]
posted by Miss Cellania at 1:55 AM on January 20, 2018 [12 favorites]
We got all the way down to the first graph before they used the term "given birth." Before that, I wasn't sure where I fit in with these women who "have children" or "became mothers." I am a mother, I have children, but I've never given birth. My kids are immigrants, so am I helping the fertility rate or not?
Unfortunately, marriage and the family data is obsessed with the Almighty Biological Child. You should always assume that data about 'having children' refers to bio children until told otherwise.
posted by joycehealy at 6:39 AM on January 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
Unfortunately, marriage and the family data is obsessed with the Almighty Biological Child. You should always assume that data about 'having children' refers to bio children until told otherwise.
posted by joycehealy at 6:39 AM on January 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
We got all the way down to the first graph before they used the term "given birth." Before that, I wasn't sure where I fit in with these women who "have children" or "became mothers."
Me, too. I was idly wondering how they accounted for women who had given birth but not raised the child vs. women who had raised children but not given birth, and whether they'd avoid double-counting those kids.
posted by lazuli at 8:55 AM on January 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Me, too. I was idly wondering how they accounted for women who had given birth but not raised the child vs. women who had raised children but not given birth, and whether they'd avoid double-counting those kids.
posted by lazuli at 8:55 AM on January 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
As Japan is discovering, if you give women a choice between being single and self sufficient or having a job but also having to take care of kids, parents and husband, a lot of women will choose single self sufficiency, despite the staggering societal pressure to be a “good” woman who is married and has kids.
posted by mrmurbles at 10:38 AM on January 20, 2018 [16 favorites]
posted by mrmurbles at 10:38 AM on January 20, 2018 [16 favorites]
No mention at all of men in this article. Surely their willingness to be more involved in raising children (in heterosexual parenting couples) could have or has played a role in some of these stats. If we want to make further progress on that front, I suggest equal parental leave for all parents, to keep the playing field level and ease the burdens on new families. This is the kind of thing our tax dollars should be going towards, not tax breaks for the wealthy.
posted by mantecol at 7:12 PM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by mantecol at 7:12 PM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
"if you give women a choice between being single and self sufficient or having a job but also having to take care of kids, parents and husband, a lot of women will choose single self sufficiency, despite the staggering societal pressure to be a “good” woman who is married and has kids."
I thought part of Japan's problem was the pressure to drop your job from family and employers once you start a family.
posted by Selena777 at 7:11 AM on January 21, 2018
I thought part of Japan's problem was the pressure to drop your job from family and employers once you start a family.
posted by Selena777 at 7:11 AM on January 21, 2018
I thought that mrmurbles said that Japanese women were expected to work *and* care for a family in a traditional way at the same time as wives. I don’t think that’s the case.
posted by Selena777 at 9:34 AM on January 23, 2018
posted by Selena777 at 9:34 AM on January 23, 2018
« Older If it fits I sit | “WATER BOTTLE IN RECTUM, DOES THIS TO REDUCE... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by srboisvert at 6:16 PM on January 19, 2018 [1 favorite]