The Prerequisites Problem

Everyone will tell you that you're never ready -- and this is part of the fertility rate story in America. People think they cannot have a kid until they achieve X, Y, and Z.

Is our “birth rate crisis” because people think a baby can only come AFTER you’re super settled professionally and with a decent salary job and a house, and those things are harder to come by? Let’s explore.

Let’s commence with this video. I don’t love the narrator’s voice, and some of the points are generic, but in general, it tells a pretty good story:

Since I myself realized that my “boys” (sperm) don’t swim good, I’ve thought a lot about fertility and birth rate challenges beyond just myself and my spouse. It’s an interesting topic, and while no one in the throes of raising three kids would ever think about it, it does have a lot (perhaps even a lot) of downstream implications for broader society, work, propping up the elderly, etc.

This above video makes a point that has definitely been made before, although it’s not a common point in these discussions. Here’s the basic breakdown: