Can More Roads Lead to More Weddings and Babies?
Probably not, but a new Transportation Department policy calls for giving it a try.
Utah is in line for more roadwork if its birth and marriage rates are any indicator.
Photographer: George Frey/Getty Images
In one of his first acts in office, newly confirmed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy put out a memo dictating that “communities with marriage and birth rates higher than the national average” be given preference in transportation funding.
What kinds of communities would benefit from this policy? If the first answer that springs to mind is “communities in Utah,” you’re right! Among US states, Utah had both the highest percentage of households led by married couples and the highest birth rate in 2023. Outside the Beehive State, the picture becomes less clear because birth and marriage rates don’t match up especially well. Marriage rates in the US rise with affluence while birth rates fall — until, in a shift seen across the developed world in recent years, you get to households with annual incomes of $200,000 or more.