DeepSummary
The podcast episode discusses the declining birth rate in America and around the world, exploring the cultural and psychological factors behind this trend rather than just economic explanations. Guests Rachel Wiseman and Anastasia Berg from the book 'What Are Children For?' argue that having children is increasingly seen as an optional choice rather than a default part of adult life, due to factors like shifting feminist perspectives, concerns about climate change, and a focus on self-discovery in one's 20s before considering parenthood.
The guests highlight how cultural narratives and dating scripts play a role, with people delaying conversations about starting a family and treating romantic compatibility as distinct from the goal of having children. They also discuss how modern progressive thought can conflict with having kids, as well as the phenomenon of intensive 'acceptance parenting' raising expectations for potential parents.
Despite economic factors often being cited, the guests contend that declining birth rates cannot be fully explained by financial concerns, pointing to low rates in countries with robust social welfare systems. They argue a more fundamental cultural ambivalence towards parenthood, rooted in wider anxieties about the future, is driving the trend.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Having children is increasingly seen as an optional choice rather than a default part of adult life in modern Western society.
- This represents a radical cultural shift driven by evolving feminist thought, climate change anxieties, a focus on self-discovery before parenthood, and changing dating/relationship scripts.
- Economic factors alone cannot fully explain the decline, as birth rates remain low even in countries with robust social welfare systems for parents.
- There is a growing cultural ambivalence and lack of clear reasons or motivations for having children among younger generations.
- Modern progressive values and ideology can conflict with cultural narratives around parenthood and motherhood.
- Intensive 'acceptance parenting' raises expectations and perceived costs of childrearing.
- Having fewer children correlates with children becoming more 'precious' and parenting becoming more intensive among those who do have kids.
- Addressing this ambivalence towards parenthood requires re-examining assumptions and narratives around marriage, family, masculinity, environmentalism, and feminism.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “We think that there's room to return this question of parenthood, children, family into the feminist conversation once more.“ by Rachel Wiseman
- “Although it is the case that antenatalism in the culture is often, or even mostly couched in terms of climate change concerns, that is the context in which we're raising the antenatalist worry that human life is not worth living, whether or not because it's so harmful or because it's so full of suffering when people are surveyed, both in the US and globally, about the reasons for them hesitating about having children. Climate change to date does not feature almost anywhere.“ by Anastasia Berg
- “What is notable is that people treat kids as a choice in the first place, as something that you can weigh against a sea of other equally good options. And so aside from the question of opportunity cost, we think that this reveals something really interesting. Starting a family of one's own is no longer understood as a necessary part of adult life.“ by Rachel Wiseman
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Episode Information
Plain English with Derek Thompson
The Ringer
6/21/24