A recent study published in Scientific Reports suggests that political beliefs are increasingly linked to the number of children Americans choose to have. The findings indicate that while conservative individuals tend to maintain birth rates near historical averages, left-leaning individuals are having significantly fewer children. This demographic trend provides evidence that differing birth rates are a main driver of recent fertility declines in the United States.
The data revealed a pronounced change in how political beliefs relate to family size. For individuals born in the early 1900s, political orientation had almost no association with the number of children they had. However, beginning with the cohort born between 1943 and 1947, a massive divergence emerged.
“We expected these results, but not to such a dramatic extent,” Fieder told PsyPost. From the mid-century cohorts onward, individuals with right-wing political views maintained birth rates at or slightly above the replacement level. The replacement level, typically considered to be 2.1 children per woman, is the rate needed for a population to replace itself from one generation to the next without immigration.
In contrast, the birth rates of left-wing individuals dropped sharply, falling well below the replacement level in the more recent cohorts. The authors noticed this drop aligns with historical changes in family planning. “We found that the gap began with the introduction of modern contraception,” Fieder said.
Right? Like, I understand not wanting to have kids, it’s not that it’s an irrational decision. But that’s the whole point of the intro to Idiocracy. If only irrational people are pumping out kids, it’s only a few generations before the population is composed entirely of the irrational and their kids.
Take it to the next step then - what option other than allowing women to have the choice do we have?
I’m not convinced to start stripping women of their right to choose because we might become a plot of a movie.
This is a manufactured problem being used to control women.
Why do you think abortion is illegal again in some states in the US?
Uh, I think you’ve radically misconstrued my point.
I’m asking you clarifying questions.
Not really? I didn’t say anything about what people should or shouldn’t be allowed to do. Obviously women should have the autonomy to not have children if they so choose. I’m just observing that, like with every choice, there are consequences.
Children born to conservative parents arent doomed to be conservative the rest of their lives.
I don’t like this insinuation that it’s women’s fault if conservatives (correction: the “irrational”) take over because they are choosing to not have children.
I know many children of conservative parents, and many of them are, in fact, conservative. Not that they’ve given it much thought. Still, it contributes to a rightward trend.
But when did I say anything about anything being anyone’s “fault”? Again, you’re misconstruing my point.
When you say “I understand why people don’t want to have kids, but if they don’t we’re going to invite the plot of Idiocracy”, what do you think that implies?
I think women’s autonomy is more important than the scare-mongering line that conservatives are going to take over if left-leaning women don’t have kids.
One of the main reasons for the falling birth rates is women having more choice over their bodies. So when you talk about how we should have more children to outnumber conservatives, that does directly imply we should look at ways to make left-leaning women have more children.
I was honestly engaging in a conversation with you and asking you questions. Simply saying I’m misconstruing your point does not clarify what you actually meant.
Nothing? It means what it means. I’m not trying to imply anything, I’m not saying anyone should do anything, I’m just observing the consequences of a trend.
The world rarely offers situations with tidy solutions. “It is possible to make no mistakes and still lose”. Yes, women deserve autonomy to reproduce, or not, as they choose. And yes, if it’s primarily left-leaning women deciding not to reproduce, while right-leaning women reproduce a lot, then demographics are likely to shift over time. These are simply two facts to keep in mind, it’s not a rallying cry to enforce leftist breeding.