Blaming Childless Women for Everything

JD Vance, Trump's VP guy, ridiculed "childless women." Like minded Christian columnists are jumping on his bandwagon and blaming women who do not have children for other woes such as loneliness. The cure for loneliness is a grandchild, one writes. Blaming women, like Eve in the Bible, for whatever problem that comes along has a long history. 

Do children and grandchildren bring happiness? Certainly, they have for my wife and me. But I can't begin to add up the number of parents I have known who are estranged from their children. My impression is that in those cases children have brought unhappiness to parents.   

We can all agree there are certain economic and social problems that come with a lower birth rate. There are fewer people paying the social security of the old and handicapped. To the extent children take care of their parents, aunts and uncles there is less care. We have to remember there are problems with birth rates that are too high. Lots of resources are spent on children.

Ultimately, there is little in politics or religion can change the number of children women decide to have. There are plenty of sermons, the birth rate keeps going down.

I don't see any denial that economics drives the size of families. When people move from farms and rural areas to cities, they have fewer children. Children are income producers on the farm, more raises incomes. In urban areas children are consumer goods. More mean less of other consumer goods a couple can buy. Wring your hands over "values" if you like, money talks.

Following the rural to urban migration has been the role of women as breadwinners in families. This raises further the cost, lost income, of another child.

The new world is one of more childless women. Politicians like JD Vance would help our country more be dealing with this reality instead of criticizing women.