BONUS | Opinion: Does our country's low birth rate concern you?
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What is the purpose of this episode?
Hello and welcome to The Excerpt. I'm Michael McCarter, Vice President and Group Editor of the Opinion Sections of Gannett, the parent company of USA Today. This is a bonus episode of The Excerpt, highlighting the series from USA Today's opinion team that's known as Forum. It's a weekly space dedicated to showcasing views from across the political spectrum on issues that Americans are starkly divided on. Today, we're hearing from a few folks about their feelings on the fertility rate in America. The US fertility rate dropped to a historic low in 2023 to only 3.6 million births. So we asked, does the low birth rate concern you? Do you agree with millennials and Gen Zers who are waiting longer to have kids or deciding not to have them at all? Here are some of their answers.
Why are Millennials and Gen Z delaying parenthood?
I am not concerned about the declining U.S. birth rate because I feel that puts a little too much pressure on the people they're expecting it from. Just because most of the concerns about the U.S. birth rate have to do with like paying for like retirement for older generations and not so much about the quality of the life of the people who have to create those future generations.
That was Essence Tillery. She's 33 and lives in Highland Park, Illinois. We also asked readers what could be done to increase the birth rate and what went into their personal decision about having kids.
To increase the birth and fertility rate in America, like two things. One, the standard stuff, free health care, child care, more flexible work options would be a start to make it easier for people. But also, I definitely think we have to look at some of the environmental factors, because I think we haven't really addressed pollution and the role microplastics have. Like why we have rising infertility, it's probably because of the crud that's in our environment, but no one's willing to hold corporations accountable. I do not have any children, and our plans to have them are kind of on the fence. I would need reliable childcare. My parents are 15 years away from retirement. I have a much younger brother, and my husband's parents turned 70 this year and are nearly an hour away. So if you don't have a flexible job and reliable childcare, it doesn't seem like it would make sense. So unless my husband and I can figure out a way to keep our costs of living low while not just drowning in childcare costs, it really doesn't make sense.
What factors influence the declining birth rate?
I do agree with other millennials and Gen Z that waiting longer to have children is fine just because at the end of the day, you're the only one that's responsible for your children. If no one's coming to help you, your problems are your own.
Rick Salick, who lives in Monument, Colorado, is feeling concerned. He thinks social media is one of the factors causing the birth rate to fall. He's 56.
How can we increase the birth rate in America?
I am concerned, not just for the population, but also because I think it's universal around the last, say, two or three generations, X, Y, Z, whichever ones you want to put into that. And I think that unless something were to change, I expect that it's going to continue in that direction. I think that it's heavily influenced by a variety of things. There's no one piece of it, but I do think that things like social media, the family unit in general, how people are, I think I use the word selfish, but didn't mean it as they're only about themselves, but people are thinking about themselves more. And I think a lot of that comes from not just parenting, but the social media side of it. where people are less social, they're on their own more.
What role does social media play in family planning?
They don't think about the family unit, in my mind, the way that people have in past generations. Came from a big family, so that was certainly an influence. We were a blended family. My mother's twin sister and her husband were killed in a car accident when they were very young. They had five kids, so we all just came together as a group of nine. And that's how we grew up. And we've always stayed very close since then. So I've had a good experience with a big family and having a lot of people around. So I get concerned that some kids, maybe either they're not being raised that way or they just don't see the value in it because they're not experiencing it.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the purpose of this episode?
0:03–1:01
2
Why are Millennials and Gen Z delaying parenthood?
1:01–2:44
3
What factors influence the declining birth rate?
2:44–3:14
4
How can we increase the birth rate in America?
3:14–4:01
5
What role does social media play in family planning?
4:01–5:02
6
How does personal experience shape views on family size?
5:02–8:37
Speakers
5 identifiedMore from The Excerpt
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