, Columnist
A Baby Boom? In This Economy?
The White House is full of pronatalist rhetoric — and anti-baby policies.
Not convinced.
Photographer: Holas Kamm/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The US birth rate is near a record low, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Wednesday, with only 1.6 children born per woman, below the 2.1 needed to sustain the population. This is no surprise — the birth rate has been falling since 2007.
What is surprising is the inconsistent — and contradictory — set of policies the Trump administration is employing to try to address it.