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Daily Signal Flashback
More Americans
Should Be Like Kate Middleton
Katrina Trinko
September 08, 2014
Kate Middleton is known for setting trends with her outfit selections.
But she’s really bucking the current societal patterns with her
announcement today: She and Prince William are expecting their second
child.
In the United States today, the average birth rate per woman is 1.9,
according to The Heritage Foundation’s 2014 Index of Culture and
Opportunity (In 1970 it was close to 2.5). The rate is roughly the same
in the United Kingdom, according to the World Bank.
Western countries face a slew of economic consequences because of
declining birthrates. Shrinking workforces will affect economic
prosperity, and the eventual large population of the elderly will
anticipate government programs providing the assistance they’ve been
promised – despite the fact that the pool of taxpayers won’t be what it
once was.
But the consequences go beyond the economic.
First, plenty of Americans would like to have more children than they
actually do ultimately have: A 2013 Gallup poll found that Americans
wanted an average of 2.6 children – significantly higher than reality.
According to the poll, the top reason cited for not having more
children was concern about the cost, with 65 percent mentioning it.
(Let’s face it: being British royalty has its problems, but lack of
cash flow isn’t one of them.)
In contrast, only 6 percent attributed fewer children to “personal
choice” or “no desire for children.”
But there’s also the fact that an increasing number of children grow up
without brothers and sisters. As someone who grew up with four brothers
and sisters, I definitely had my moments of fantasizing about the life
of an only child – particularly when a sibling just wouldn’t stop
bothering me, or when I wanted to kick out my two sisters (who I shared
a room with) and have some peace and quiet.
Yet I also have plenty of good memories, from the five of us building
blanket “forts” in the living room to bursting into tears over
something in my twenties – and realizing that my “baby” sister was
grown-up enough now to comfort me, not vice versa.
You shouldn’t need to be royalty to have the “luxury” of a second child
– or third, fourth, or well, à la Duggar, 19th. Let’s hope that Kate
Middleton’s ability to set trends includes family size as well as
fashion.
Read this and other articles at The Daily Signal
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