Since 1979, the United States birth rate has been declining, with a steep drop off in the early 2000s. The years of 2007 and 2008 had the most dramatic decrease, partially due to the Great Recession that was occurring during that time. Now the birth rate is approximately 20 percent lower than it was during the Great Recession.
The national birth rate that is needed in order to keep an average population is around 2.1 children per family to match the current marriage rate of 6.1 per 1,000 people. The current birth rate is around 1.6 within the United States.
Many conservatives look at the declining birth and marriage rates as a crisis surrounding most cultures caused by politics and the media. They claim that these central parts of a person’s life are disregarding what they would call a “traditional family” where women are encouraged to prioritize children over their work.
Pronatalists – a group of people who aim to promote an increased birth and reproduction rate through government or societal means – are trying to explore different methods of how to conceive children. Similar to conservatives, they wish for family structures to remain as a central structure. However, instead of removing social media, they are trying to make it so both social media and politics urge the common people into having more children.
A low birth rate is a larger problem than what most people would consider. As the birth rate declines, the elderly population grows, which could cause negative effects in the workforce, reduced economic growth, lower living standards, and a strain on healthcare programs.
Ideas have been circulating through the government about how to solve this issue. Many well-developed countries have already been facing the problem and struggling to find ways to counteract it. Multiple ideas have been seen and discussed, but there are three main suggestions that the government has been contemplating.
One option is reserving scholarships to the Fulbright program. The Fulbright program is how the United States Government aims to bridge the gap between its people and others outside of the country through academics and cultural exchanges. This proposal aims to reserve around 30 percent of the scholarships that have been given to the program for applicants who have children or are married.
The second idea is that the federal government would fund programs that would provide women education to better understand their menstrual cycles. The main idea of this is to help women understand when they’re at the height of fertility in order to increase their chances of getting pregnant.
The third and most discussed idea in office right now is a cash “baby bonus”. While the amount of money is still being discussed, the government is most willing to provide around $5,000. This money would be given to every American mother post-delivery. This means that after birth, the parents would be given the money, but it is unsure how much time it would take for the money to be delivered.
However, the White House has stressed the importance of the fact that President Trump has yet to come to a decision about how to counteract the low birth rate.
The reservation of scholarships is a good start, but not all women who get pregnant want or may need a scholarship. This idea pushes mostly for students who are on the younger side or lack a stable income to pay for college. The other problem that arises from this proposal is that not all women who become pregnant and want the scholarship, will get it. Scholarships can be hard to earn, and when more people are after them, the less likely someone is to receive it.
Educating women on their menstrual cycles is an important service that most people believe should be provided, regardless if the national birth rate is high or low. Also, bias will impact how the education system teaches students. If a teacher is uncomfortable with the topic, they may tend to avoid certain ideas. To put it simply, if a teacher has their own agenda for what they think is the best outcome, the teacher could act on it, which could impact students for the rest of their lives.
Finally, the $5,000 incentive could help pay the costs of giving birth. However, this amount hardly covers an average bill related to childbirth, which costs around $16,011 (along with the average out-of-pocket cost of $2,845). It doesn’t help that a person, specifically the woman, won’t receive those benefits until after she has delivered.. Basically, if someone doesn’t have that kind of money on hand, they won’t be able to afford the procedure.
. Some would say that the birth rate is a large concern, and these three methods that were mentioned are the best ways to go. Others, though, fear other risks that would come out of the different offers that the office has been considering.
One of the largest concerns are rape cases. According to multiple reports, around 43 percent of men and 81 percent of women report having experienced different types of sexual harassment and possibly assault within their life. In 2018, there were 734,630 reported rapes in the United States.
The concern stems from how the rape rates would change based off of how the incentives work. Many fear that without proper procedures or guidelines to follow, anyone could get their hands on the benefits, including rapists.
Most of the fear comes from the $5,000 and the scholarships. Many are anxious that this already high amount of rape cases will only increase, and drastically at that. With the promises of money and less expensive education, some people dread what could come out of that.
Other people fear financial abuse. They are afraid that their family members would pressure children or younger members of the family to get pregnant and then claim that they are going to hold the money for them, when really they will do something else with it.
Around 99 percent of domestic abuse cases are about financial abuse, which means that this is already a common and problematic issue that the judicial branch already has to tackle. If the incentives do get released, people fear that the number could escalate for all cases as well.
In the end, the problem of the low birth rate has to be addressed, and it is important to recognize that the White House is trying to confront it. However, the solution will have to be well thought out in order to prevent drastic harm to those who do and don’t want to have children and give birth.
