If we want higher birth rates, men—not women—need to step up

The rise of „Tradwives“ has certainly led many to believe that a return to traditional role models is key to higher birth rates. But a new study suggests that the solution lies much more in men taking on more responsibility at home. Because women are more likely to have children where they have the security that they can maintain their freedom and careers – and where housework and child-rearing are shared fairly.

Birth rates have been falling for decades – in Europe, North America and much of Asia. Politically, the issue is usually negotiated as a demographic or economic problem. The focus is on labour shortages, the ageing of society or allegedly lost „family values“.

In her study „The Downside of Fertility“, economist and Nobel laureate Claudia Goldin concludes that countries have higher birth rates in which men do a larger share of housework and childcare – precisely where one deviates from the outdated model of the „sole breadwinner with the housewife“.

Men too rarely give partners security that they can retain their freedoms despite having children

Goldin, who teaches economics at Harvard University, found that women want to make sure their partner supports the burden before choosing children. Women ask themselves the central question: In my current life and relationship situation, does a child mean that I have to forgo too much income and security – and thus my child also has too little security?

Women have adapted more quickly to new economic and social conditions than men. While women benefit from training and gainful employment, many men cling to traditional roles. This significantly increases the costs of motherhood for women. Conflicts between the different ideas are inevitable.

She distinguishes between two types of fathers: „Dads“ (dads) and „Duds“ (duds). „Dads“ are fathers who actively care for their children after birth. „Duds“ take little time; their daily lives and their contribution to family work do not change significantly. Goldin argues:

The birth rate is now precisely related to the question of how many fathers will and how many will not take care of their children. Here, according to her, there is a „mismatch“ – a mismatch – between what women would need from men to choose children despite their careers and what they get.

The result: birth rates are declining in many countries. According to Goldin’s research, these declines have consistently followed improvements in women’s employment, educational attainment, and reproductive rights. Thanks to contraceptives, they can live out their sexuality without fear of unplanned pregnancies. Longer educational paths mean later parenthood. „Women want to secure their professional careers before having children,“ Goldin concludes. „For some, this means waiting so long that they eventually don’t have children.“

But according to Goldin, it is not women’s greater financial independence that is the main reason for the declining birth rates. The real problem lies in the support that women receive from men – or not.

Women carefully consider whether their partners can credibly demonstrate their reliability – in relationship work and housework –.

In countries with more equality and more active fathers, fertility decline is less

To examine this relationship, Goldin compared two groups of countries. The first includes Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the USA. These countries have had relatively low, but not extremely low, birth rates for several decades.

The second group of countries includes Greece, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Portugal and Spain. These countries currently have the lowest birth rates in the world, with particularly sharp declines in recent years. In these states, where economic modernisation is comparatively young and gender norms have changed more slowly, women are more likely to postpone starting a family or forgo it altogether if they cannot find a partner to share the burden with them.

In Japan and Italy, women spend around three hours more per day on unpaid domestic and care work than men. In Sweden and Denmark, however, the difference is only 0.8 and 0.9 hours, respectively.

Extreme example of South Korea

In South Korea, the country with the lowest birth rate in the world, gender norms are so rigid and the division of labour so unequal that women have begun to fundamentally reject marriage and motherhood. Part of this development is the so-called 4 B movement. The 4B movement is so named because all four rejected things in Korean begin with „bi“ (비): no relationship, no sex, no marriage, and no children. Women use this as a protest against sexism, role stereotypes, and a system that demands family but denies equality.

Housework, shopping, children, relatives to be cared for: women spend more time on work every day than men

Countries in the first group have societies in which cultural norms have changed over decades as a result of economic modernisation. Women have entered the labour market there in large numbers since the 1970s and have made up about half of the workforce since 2000. Men are also more likely to do domestic work in these countries. The difference in unpaid workload is gradually shrinking – although the breakdown is still not the same.

Other measures, such as state-subsidised childcare or paid parental leave, can also have a positive impact on the birth rate, as examples from Denmark, France, Germany and Sweden show. However, Goldin emphasises that their effect would be smaller than that of a more even division of care work. Japan, for example, has comprehensive coverage for fertility treatments and more than 30 weeks of paid father’s leave but is still one of the countries with the lowest birth rates.

In the United States, where the birth rate hit a record low last year, a growing right-wing pronatalist movement is calling for women to stay home and have more children to prevent labour shortages and economic decline. President Donald Trump expressed a desire for a „baby boom“ and brought into play a „medal of motherhood“ for women with six or more children. Vice President JD Vance criticised so-called „childless cat women“.

Trying to push women into the role of housewife alone could make the birth rate plummet even more

These arguments place the responsibility almost exclusively on women and call for their withdrawal from the labour market. How much support men actually provide usually goes unmentioned. Goldin warns: pushing women back into the role of housewife could even lead to them not wanting children. Because if there is no compatibility, one does not necessarily choose children and financial dependence.

The study makes it clear that low birth rates are not a short-term phenomenon and cannot be remedied with individual measures. They are the result of long-term social and economic shifts. As long as the division of labour in partnerships does not change, the decision to have children for women remains fraught with uncertainty.

Goldin’s finding thus brings into focus an aspect that is often ignored in political debates. It was not women who needed to change their behaviour, but the framework conditions under which family work was distributed.

Post Views: 9