Today we recognize the 85 million women in the U.S. and 2 billion worldwide who have given birth to at least one child.
Mothers are extraordinary. They grow life in their bodies, endure on average 40 weeks of all types of discomfort during the gestation period, then endure an incredible amount of pain (even with epidurals) in labor and delivery. It doesn’t stop there.
Author Elizabeth Stone is quoted as saying, “Making the decision to have a child – it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body and hope the world is gentle with it.” The metaphor describes the extreme love, worry and responsibility that often accompanies being a parent.
Mothers do an extraordinary range of things often at the same time. A walking spreadsheet and calendar, they care for a child’s social, emotional, mental, physical, educational, economic, logistical needs – for 18 years and longer – and manage a household, work, shop and more. As a result, moms experience a tremendous amount of personal and professional sacrifice.
It’s also really expensive to have children, hovering around $300,000 from birth to 17 (not including college). It’s entirely understandable why women (together with their partners and spouses) are choosing not to have more, or any, children.
It is with curiosity that the Herald’s editorial board considers the president’s (father of five) and Elon Musk’s (sire to 14) interest in and approach to incentivizing women to have more children over their apparent concern about falling birthrates.
It’s true, U.S. Total Fertility Rates have been in decline since 2007 when they hit their peak of 2.12 children per woman, just exceeding the 2.1 TFR replacement rate. During the COVID-19 pandemic, TFR fell to 1.64 in 2020 and only modestly increased to 1.66 in 2023 where it remains today.
This decline potentially has ramifications for labor markets and our economy, how to care for and pay for an aging population of seniors, retirement benefits and medical services. Sustainability advocates, however, believe fewer people on the planet could improve our quality of life.
Either way, it’s not likely the president’s and Musk’s proposals are going to move the needle on birthrates. They include paying a $5,000 “baby bonus” to new mothers after delivery, reserving 30% of Fulbright scholarships for married applicants or those who are already parents, awarding a “National Medal of Motherhood” to mothers with six or more children, and funding education on menstrual cycles. Who knows who is coming up with these ideas, but they truly are head shaking and bizarre.
Policies that could make a difference in birthrates are those that completely eliminate the costs of child care and health care, guarantee paid family leave, and provide additional support for working parents. Those unlikely to be implemented by this administration.
We’d like to wish Rep. Katie Stewart, a mother of five, a Happy Mother’s Day and thank her for her advocacy on behalf of women and mothers. And to the rest of you moms, may you have a day to yourself, breakfast in bed, a bouquet of flowers or whatever helps you feel appreciated – because you are.
