Read on Twitter
Let’s take a second to look at right wingers’ obsession with American women pumping out children and why it means they’re either extreme hypocrites or very poorly informed. https://twitter.com/jdvance1/status/1323061111185440768
America is the only developed country that doesn’t have mandated maternity leave. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/12/16/u-s-lacks-mandated-paid-parental-leave/
In an age where 64% of households are two income, leaving a job to have a child -- or more than one -- may seem impractical. So can having a child with little or no downtime to recover from birth.
Republicans have, of course, pushed back against paid family leave claiming, “at the end of the day there’s nothing free and at some point this has an enormous cost associated with it.” Again, we are the only developed country that doesn’t mandate this. https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/473971-republicans-push-back-on-expanding-paid-family-leave-beyond-federal
In terms of our maternal mortality rate, the U.S. ranks below Russia and slightly ahead of Ukraine. That is... not good. One researcher at the Maryland Population Research Center describes it as, “a national embarrassment.” https://www.vox.com/2020/1/30/21113782/pregnancy-deaths-us-maternal-mortality-rate
One reason we rank so badly is that maternal healthcare is unaffordable to a lot of expectant mothers. The Affordable Care Act mandated that maternal care was listed among the essential health benefits an insurance plan has to cover.
The Affordable Care Act is the one republicans are constantly trying to repeal. https://www.ajmc.com/view/republican-attorneys-general-file-briefs-to-repeal-aca
And that’s not taking into account the fact that Millennials are getting married later. Which is, if you care about happy marriages, a good thing! The divorce rate is plummeting among that generation. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-25/millennials-are-causing-the-u-s-divorce-rate-to-plummet
But it means that, as people get married older, they may need more help getting pregnant. IVF (which insurance companies can opt out of covering) costs around $33,000 for 3 cycles. https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/25/health/ivf-insurance-parenting-strauss/index.html
In the U.K., three cycles of IVF treatment are offered by the NHS provided that applicants under 40 have been trying to conceive for at least 2 years. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ivf/availability/
But then, IVF is not something Republicans give a shit about in any case, so, don’t hold your breath for help there. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-nominee-who-is-anti-ivf-and-surrogacy-was-deemed-unqualified-she-was-just-confirmed/ar-BBXMdgn
So, if people like @JDVance1 want more babies, instead of whining “why won’t more women be mommmmmmies” maybe work on creating a world where that’s a more tenable goal for women.
Of course, he would have known a lot more about this if he’d ever taken a gender studies course.
Oh, and if your main worry is not enough workers? I know some people you can let in that can start contributing to the economy right now, not in 20 years. https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/immigrants-contribute-greatly-to-us-economy-despite-administrations
