Worldwide Efforts to Reverse the Baby Shortage Are Falling Flat

Subsidized minivans, no income taxes: Countries have rolled out a range of benefits to encourage bigger families, with no luck

By Chelsey Dulaney of Thhe WSJ. Excerpts:

"Imagine if having children came with more than $150,000 in cheap loans, a subsidized minivan and a lifetime exemption from income taxes.

Would people have more kids? The answer, it seems, is no.

These are among the benefits—along with cheap child care, extra vacation and free fertility treatments—that have been doled out to parents in different parts of Europe, a region at the forefront of the worldwide baby shortage. Europe’s overall population shrank during the pandemic and is on track to contract by about 40 million by 2050, according to United Nations statistics."

"Europe and other demographically challenged economies in Asia such as South Korea and Singapore have been pushing back against the demographic tide with lavish parental benefits for a generation. Yet falling fertility has persisted among nearly all age groups, incomes and education levels. Those who have many children often say they would have them even without the benefits. Those who don’t say the benefits don’t make enough of a difference."

"Europe and other demographically challenged economies in Asia such as South Korea and Singapore have been pushing back against the demographic tide with lavish parental benefits for a generation. Yet falling fertility has persisted among nearly all age groups, incomes and education levels. Those who have many children often say they would have them even without the benefits. Those who don’t say the benefits don’t make enough of a difference."

"Both Hungary and Norway spend more than 3% of GDP on their different approaches to promoting families—more than the amount they spend on their militaries, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development."

"Hungary says in recent years its spending on policies for families has exceeded 5% of GDP. The U.S. spends around 1% of GDP on family support"

"Hungary’s subsidized housing loan program has helped almost 250,000 families buy or upgrade their homes"

"Hungary is especially generous to families who have several children, or who give birth at younger ages."

"Families who pledge to have three or more children can get more than $150,000 in subsidized loans. Other benefits include a lifetime exemption from personal taxes for mothers with four or more kids, and up to seven extra annual vacation days for both parents."

"Under another program that’s now expired, nearly 30,000 families used a subsidy to buy a minivan"

"New parents in Norway can share nearly a year of fully paid leave, or around 14 months at 80% pay. More than three months are reserved for fathers to encourage more equal caregiving. Mothers are entitled to take at least an hour at work to breast-feed or pump."

"Its fertility rate of 1.4 children per woman has steadily fallen from nearly 2 in 2009."

Related posts:

The Economy Affects The Birth Rate (2010)

Did The Recession Help Lower The Birth Rate? (2011)

U.S. Fertility Rate Hits Lowest Level on Record (2012) 

A number of women who put off having babies after the 2007-09 recession are forgoing them altogether; more educated women and student debt also contribute to decline in birth rates (2018)

Births in U.S. Drop to Levels Not Seen Since 1979 (2021) 

U.S. Population Growth, an Economic Driver, Grinds to a Halt (2021)