The article argues that most of America’s fertility drop comes from fewer marriages, and that working‑class men became less 'marriageable' when deindustrialization, globalization, and high immigration eroded secure jobs. It proposes protectionist trade, directed industrial investment, vocational training, and tighter immigration to rebuild male economic security, lift marriage rates, and thereby increase births.
— This reframes pronatal policy from childcare subsidies to labor‑market engineering, directly tying trade and immigration choices to marriage and fertility outcomes.
Patrick T. Brown
2025.12.03
70% relevant
Both this article and the existing idea aim to explain the U.S. fertility decline via proximate social causes that shape marriage and family formation; the article foregrounds partisan and cultural divergence (liberal women opting out of marriage/parenthood) while the existing idea attributes low fertility to male 'marriageability' and labor‑market breakdown — together they illuminate competing causal narratives policymakers must choose between.
Stephen Wiecek
2025.10.08
100% relevant
Claims that roughly 75% of the fertility decline is due to a shrinking married share and that U.S. TFR is 1.6, paired with calls to protect markets, invest in high‑productivity sectors, expand vocational training, and limit immigration.
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