Did you read the article? It makes an interesting comparison of the birth rate of West Germany (that had a capitalistic industrialisation model) and East Germany (with a communist industrialisation model) and suggests that East Germany did create such an socioeconomic model where woman were in the workforce (in large numbers) and also didn't hesitate to become mothers because of the support structures provided for them. Ofcourse, capitalistic consumer culture here is an important factor too - many affluent people today don't want to have kids or a large family because they are afraid of the impact it will have on their consumerist lifestyle.
back
2 comments
Scandinavian countries provide robust parental support, in some cases with shared parental leave exceeding a year, and the fertility rate has still not gone up.
In the context of improving systems to make the idea of having children more palatable, my thoughts are a four-day work week, fully subsidized childcare, universal healthcare, etc. Outside of a few countries who may have some pieces of these policies, I don’t believe there’s any political appetite to implement these policies at scale.
Broadly speaking, the economic and time burden of having children in the current macro is simply too high for many. They are luxury good.
US data: https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/parents-under-pressu...
Yes but you won't hear them talk about what happened to people who consistently chose not to work. Which is relevant here because motherhood was effectively one of the only ways women could get out of working for a longer period of time (3 months before, sometimes more, and a full year after birth), without going to prison ... or worse. Plus a baby was one of the very few ways to get a raise.
Of course this fact isn't mentioned in the article.
I will say, one of the very few things that the Soviet communists should receive credit for is indeed their rejection of traditional social norms. Equality for women was much further along on the other side of the Iron curtain. Women became doctors sooner. Women became professors sooner. Etc. That was definitely a Soviet achievement. True.
But something this article really tries to downplay: this didn't stop fertility rate from falling fast. It just took slightly longer before it started falling. Slightly.
There’s a great book related to this topic and supports your thesis.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_Women_Have_Better_Sex_Unde...