American coverage is uniquely hostile to households. Different rich nations assure paid parental depart and sick days and closely subsidize early childhood care — to the tune of about $14,000 per 12 months per little one, on common. (The USA, in contrast, spends round $500 per child per year.) So it’s no marvel our birthrate has been in decline, with many individuals saying they’re having fewer kids than they want.
But should you look nearer at these different rich nations, that story doesn’t completely maintain. Sweden, for instance, has among the most beneficiant work-family insurance policies on this planet, and in line with the latest numbers from Our World in Knowledge, from 2021, their fertility price is 1.67 kids per lady — virtually identical to ours.
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Caitlyn Collins is a sociology professor at Washington College in St. Louis and the creator of “Making Motherhood Work: How Ladies Handle Careers and Caregiving.” To know how household insurance policies have an effect on the expertise of child-rearing, she interviewed over 100 middle-class moms throughout 4 nations with totally different parenting cultures and ranges of social assist for households: the US, Sweden, Italy and Germany. And what she finds is that insurance policies can significantly relieve dad and mom’ stress, however cultural norms like “intensive parenting” stay constant.
On this dialog, we focus on how work-family insurance policies in Sweden body spending time with kids without any consideration somewhat than a privilege, how these insurance policies have reworked the gender norms round parenting, why family-friendly insurance policies throughout the globe don’t enhance birthrates, how cultural pressures in America to be each a great employee and a great guardian typically conflict, why many American dad and mom really feel it’s inconceivable to have a couple of or two kids, how cultural discourse has led youthful girls to “dread” motherhood and extra.
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(A full transcript of this episode will likely be obtainable inside 24 hours of publication within the audio participant above.)
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Present” was produced by Annie Galvin. Reality-checking by Michelle Harris. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with extra mixing from Efim Shapiro. Our senior editor is Claire Gordon. The present’s manufacturing crew additionally consists of Rollin Hu and Kristin Lin. Unique music by Isaac Jones. Viewers technique by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The manager producer of New York Occasions Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. Particular because of Sonia Herrero.
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