"Fertility Rate in USA on Upswing," says today's lead story in USA Today. Whereas "most industrialized nations...are struggling with low birthrates," America has hit the replacement rate.
What does this have to do with gay marriage? Nothing, really. But one recurring charge against gay marriage is that it reinforces, or at least reflects, an adult-centered view of marriage which pushes children aside - so people have fewer of them. Or something like that. The bottom line is that gay marriage gets blamed for the European baby bust.
Whatever has caused Europe's low fertility, I don't think it's gay marriage (which only a few countries have, and which low-fertility Japan, for example, does not have). But never mind: Whatever is going on in Europe isn't going on here. America is a lot more gay-friendly today than in the past, and it's a lot more receptive to same-sex couples and unions. And neither of those changes is pushing procreation out of the picture.
2 Comments for “What Baby Bust?”
posted by Conyochulo on
The fertility rate in the US is on the upswing because immigration is on the upswing. Mexican, Asian, and African women have enough children to counterbalance native-born women who reach their 40s without children or have one or two at the most.
posted by Jonathan Rauch on
Actually, immigration is only part of this story. E.g., as the USAT article notes, “‘We do know that birthrates ticked up quite a bit among the most affluent,’ says Stephanie Coontz, director of research and public education at the Council on Contemporary Families.”