Low fertility among middle-class whites explained…

…. by a white middle-class American. A Facebook post from a woman in her 30s who was last seen (by me) thoroughly enjoying Burning Man:

I decided recently to get clear on what my future self would like to create now for my life. Though I’ve enjoyed the wild ride of the single life and being foot loose and fancy free most of my adult life. I decided that slowing down to focus on building a relationship with my life partner was going to be my biggest priority. I definitely had to do some internal housekeeping to create space for this person to show up in my life and he sure did! I’m so happy to have found this man and our time together has been nothing short of awesome! He’s not on social media (which I find refreshing) so he will never see this, but I’m so thankful to have met him and I’m so excited for the life we plan to build together and I look forward to sharing this journey with you all. 💕

I.e., in her 20s she did not have the idea of an enduring partnership with a man and therefore, presumably, no children were planned (not sure she realized that having sex with an already-married dentist in Massachusetts would have paid a lot better than her job in education!)

If children are the outcome of this “life partnership,” the first won’t arrive until mom is at what biologists would say is the sunset of her fertility. We have the cold data on the low fertility of middle-income white Americans:

But via Facebook we have an explanation of how this occurs. (Remember that there are few Americans with incomes of $200,000+/year and therefore, despite what you might infer from a casual glance at the chart, the future population will be increasingly descended from people earning less than $50,000/year.)

10 thoughts on “Low fertility among middle-class whites explained…

  1. Tell them you’re not on social media, check.

    The divorce industry has another 20 years of gainful employment.

  2. Alternate explanation to declining fertility: unaffordable house prices (due to population growth from immigration?). Compare median length of mortgage on a median priced home, by generation:
    – Great-grandparents = 10 years
    – Grandparents = 15 years
    – Parents =22 years
    – Current generation = 30 years
    – Millennials = 40 years?

    • According to Phil, anyone with a low enough income just gets a free house from the government, so your theory must not hold water. Maybe that’s why low-income correlates to increased fertility, because of those sweet free houses?

  3. I believe that due to the gender wars
    going on between men and women, due to lack of trust, understanding and friendship, there’s a good chance that marriages will be less and less successful, as well as relationships between men and women in general. For example, more and more people seem to be living alone, especially more women. Also, pets seem to be a replacement for a real human partner. Furthermore, with the millions of pets out there in society, these pets are getting all of the love, kindness and attention that should be given to a human being , many humans are going without their needs being met. Also, relationships are not being formed due to the fact that many people who work full time jobs don’t have time nor the inclinations to develop and manage a healthy relationship, so they opt for substitute meaningless relationships, one night stands, no responsibilities and no attachments. Lastly, there’s always medical devices, pills and or shots re: Birth control practices.

    • Pets are superior to female companions. They don’t sue for divorce, and they’re loyal. Try third simple experiment: put your dog and your wife in the trunk of your car, drive around for 10 minutes and then stop.

      When you open your trunk, which one is happy to see you?

  4. The reason it’s low among people with higher incomes is this. The women are putting off getting married and having kids tu get established with a career. A woman might go to school for 4-8 years, to get a good paying job such as a nurse doctor or lawyer. Once graduated, she focuses on her career and getting established. By the time she had found mr right and they buy a house together she’s well into her mid 30s, and after years of birth control has trouble conceiving. They often use invitro. When your looking at successful people a lot is required to get to where they are.

  5. Pets are superior to female companions. They don’t sue for divorce, and they’re loyal. Try this simple experiment: put your dog and your wife in the trunk of your car, drive around for 10 minutes and then stop.

    When you open your trunk, which one is happy to see you?

  6. Idiocracy! Honey, hold my beer! Wars with large numbers of drafted low income army soldiers help solve these problems. Cruel, but true!

  7. “Though I’ve enjoyed the wild ride of the single life and being foot loose and fancy free most of my adult life.”

    There used to be a four-letter word for that.

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