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Remote work may have fueled a baby boom among U.S. women
- djohnston 4y agoHow does a baby boom only exist among women? I don't understand the headline
- PaulHoule 4y agoIs it like that trend where some people work 2 or 3 remote jobs?
- hdjjhhvvhga 4y agoIn what respect?
- PaulHoule 4y agoTaking care of a child takes up your time, it's a job. Most babies spend a lot of time sleeping so you can probably get some work done, but if your child needs you you are going to have to drop what you're doing. There is no problem if you are honest about this and your employer accepts it, but just as somebody can hold multiple jobs and not come clean about it, it seems like a parent could also dissemble about it.
- hdjjhhvvhga 4y agoAh I see. I live in Europe in a country where parents have paid parental live for a year or more, so this is not an issue. However, if this is something that increases birth rates in the USA, I guess it's not a bad thing, especially if employers see no decline in the quality of work delivered.
- bombcar 4y agoIt's much more likely that putting "unreasonable" constraints on a work-from-home parent with small child would fall afoul of labour laws than someone working multiple jobs. Also, Zoom has gotten surprisingly good - the "high" setting on background noise for "barking dogs" actually works frighteningly well - people on calls have apologized for their exploding dogs because the UPS guy assaulted the doorbell and we've heard absolutely nothing.
- bpodgursky 4y agoIt's hard for me to imagine this working past the first 6 months, if even that.
- chrisBob 4y agoWhat is the right way to discuss that at an interview? Discussing the applicant's family is typically off limits, but if the goal is to work and be a parent then you must have that conversation early.
- bdowling 4y agoYou shouldn't discuss family obligations at a job interview, full stop.
- programmarchy 4y agoSuper interesting from a psychological perspective, especially in contrast to predictions by economists that the opposite would happen. I think it shows bravery and optimism.
- SSJPython 4y ago> especially in contrast to predictions by economists that the opposite would happen. Economists don't have sex, that's why they are economists.
- questime 4y agoWouldn't that make them software engineers as well?
- elforce002 4y agoHaha. Throwing shade this early.
- hanoz 4y agoNot entirely surprising with so many couples suddenly at home all day, with any children at school.
- nxmnxm99 4y agoDidn't that end up having the opposite effect where people were stuck with their partners all day and no longer wanted to have sex?
- francisofascii 4y agoMaybe it worked both ways. Couples in a more positive state got stronger, couples in a more problematic/conflict state got worse.
- kridsdale2 4y agoIt's not that simple. It's how each psychologically responds to stress and gloom. Some get energized and others get shut down.
- xeromal 4y agoFunny how that worded to assume the lockdowns were stress and gloom. My partner and I flourished in the lockdowns. You posit that we reacted positively to stress and gloom, but we saw it as freedom. Working from home resulted in an uptick in projects, sex, cooking, and other positive freedoms. I'll end that it doesn't really matter at the end of the day. Some people hated being trapped at home and others thoroughly enjoyed it.
- jackbravo 4y agoyes, but I have friends that were being stuck with their parents, so they decided during the pandemic that it was time for them to move with their partners instead.
- gadders 4y agoI just hope they remembered to turn their cameras off.
- Bostonian 4y agoThe article says, "Much of that cohort was able to work from home, which gave parents more time and flexibility to deal with the life changes and demands that pregnancy and a new baby bring." I guess it's indelicate to say that when a man and woman are both stuck at home, more babies will be conceived. People who were unattached during the lockdown were probably less likely to find a mate, though.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago> I guess it's indelicate to say that when a man and woman are both stuck at home, more babies will be conceived. It would be inaccurate to assume an increase in frequency of sex will lead to more babies, in the age of access to very effective birth control. Many (most I assume?) choose when to have or try to have children.
- alocasia-1 4y agoRoughly half of pregnancies in the US are unplanned, and with abortion and contraceptive access being removed or severely limited in many states, that situation is only going to get worse.
- lotsofpulp 4y agoThe only US source for data I could find was from 2011: https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/contraception/unintendedpregnancy/index.htm https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/contraception/uninten... > In 2008, women reported that more than half of all pregnancies (51%) were unintended. By 2011, the percentage of unintended pregnancies declined to 45%. That is an improvement, but some groups still tend to have higher rates of unintended pregnancy. For example, 75% of pregnancies were unintended among teens aged 15 to 19 years. I imagine this has continued to trend downwards since 2011, especially amongst women who had the option of remote work (more educated, more lucrative careers, higher degree of financial freedom, less religious, etc).
- alocasia-1 4y ago
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- bombcar 4y agoI wonder what percentage was fueled by a dual income household being forced to single income and realizing that they could handle it well enough - and the non-working spouse deciding to not bother returning to the workforce?
- drooby 4y agoPerhaps explains increased wages and low unemployment too.
- seydor 4y agoReturning to the workforce does not mean returning to the office anymore. I can imagine mother-friendly remote work as a replacement/supplement to maternal/paternal leave
- lotsofpulp 4y agoI cannot imagine that, babies and toddlers require attention frequently and randomly. Unless you have zero meetings, loose deadlines, and very asynchronous contact with the rest of the business, it would be a very difficult balance. Might work for first 6 months when all they do is sleep, eat, and lay around, but as soon as they are moving or aware that they can get things they want, predictability goes out the window. Although, I would not even bet on the first 6 months being easy due to sleep deprivation.
- throwaway09223 4y agoHave you not attended meetings with parents taking care of babies? I sure have. People do difficult things all the time. It's especially manageable if both parents are WFH.
- stingraycharles 4y agoI have not, and it may be my lack of understanding, but I don’t think taking care of babies during a meeting is a good thing. Unless you and I have very different types of meetings, the ones I have are usually short and focused and I would be very annoyed if someone was constantly interrupted or distracted (just like I would be if someone is constantly checking their phone).
- Railsify 4y ago
- downrightmike 4y agoAll employees get fucked, some just get more lube.
- nineplay 4y agoI can understand that it's probably easier to track the numbers of children born to 'women' instead of 'parents', but my observation has been that remote work has resulted in a sea change as to what it means to be a full time working parent. My boss works long hours and now has 2 kids under the age of 4. Pre-Covid he would have been out of the house from about 7-7 and only able to have moments of interaction at the edges of the day. Now, he works about the same hours, but when he takes a break, when he gets lunch or coffee, when his wife is busy, he can spend time with the kids. Play a little peek-a-boo, read some Dr Seuss, watch them grow. Our company is pushing back-to-work policies and he's pulling every string to get exceptions for our group. I think if push comes to shove then he's gone. My brood is older but boy I like being there to help with the math homework. Even 10 minute to go though the process of "Here's the strategy, here's an example, here's why it works this way" makes a huge difference. I let them work out the problem by themselves, and 10 minutes later they come back with "I got it!". My partner, the scientist, is in his element. If we're not careful the kids are going to be going back to class and correcting their teachers. It's redefined what it means to be a working parent. I hope it sticks. I'm old enough that I'm seeing the regrets from parents who quit their jobs to stay home and are in a unenviable situation post-divorce.
- germinalphrase 4y ago“ If we're not careful the kids are going to be going back to class and correcting their teachers” I will say, as a former teacher, I loved being corrected.
- phamilton 4y agoBeyond the hours, the lack of commute has changed so much for me. I can not only take my kids to their 5pm soccer practice, I can coach the team! None of that was possible when I had an hour commute each way.
- nineplay 4y agoI'm not coaching but I've taking kids to practice, turned on tethering, and gotten an hour of work done sitting peacefully at the park with no impact on productivity. When I was WIO I had to make deals with the boss - come it at 7 so I could leave at 3, send apologetic emails to my coworkers as to why I wasn't at my desk. It was demeaning - like I should be pathetically grateful to my company for letting my kid have extracurricular activities. What a horror show.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- hammock 4y agoWe have had more parental leaves this year on my team then we have had in the last 5 years combined. Anecdotally confirmed
- fortuna86 4y agoI had a lot of friends that got their first child during lockdown. Exactly 0 that already had a kid created another. Take that for what you want.
- Klonoar 4y agoI had a number of friends with 1 kid pop out another during the course of the pandemic. It's def a factor as well.
- simonsarris 4y agoI had my first child in July 2020 and my second was born just two months ago. For someone who transitioned to partially work from home it's been a great time to be a parent IMO.
- hardware2win 4y ago>You were created during scrum
- antisthenes 4y agoSo it is good for something at least?
- questime 4y agoThe biggest blessing of remote work is being able to tune out and do something else during useless meetings.
- chatterhead 4y ago
- jimbob45 4y agoYou get $3,600 yearly for having a kid. That’s just not nearly enough to adequately raise a child, let alone fund the changes in your own life from getting to raise a child. It should be no surprise that women need some extra financial assistance when it comes to raising children.
- chatterhead 4y agoWhere did you get that number from? You get $4800 here just for being unemployed and on welfare; and it goes up with each kid up to 4. Plus, free lunches. Plus, a new political push to make childcare supplements people received during the pandemic permanent. People without children already supplement education with property tax they shouldn't be paying. Why in the hell should the childless be supporting your breeding habits?
- jimbob45 4y agohttps://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/tax-deductions-and-credits-2/family/tax-benefits-for-having-dependents-12835/ https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/tax-deductions-and-credits-... I got that number here. It has a bit of a range depending on income and a few other factors. The number appears to be low no matter what your factors end up being, though. The childless support those with children because everyone recognizes that we have to reproduce to keep society running. If nobody has children, then our standard of living plummets, among other consequences. Thus, we subsidize kids for those who choose to have them.
- chatterhead 4y agoOk, that's federal. How is that the same as state provided welfare benefits? That's essentially a negative income tax (Milton Friedman) and is in addition to state benefits provided. At least, I don't see where there is an exclusion for those who receive such benefits. Reminds me of when ODB snagged his welfare payment. People far removed from poverty really don't understand how cash based system-scamming the poor really are. https://rockthebells.com/articles/odb-food-stamps-mtv/ https://rockthebells.com/articles/odb-food-stamps-mtv/
- z9znz 4y agoIt certainly revitalized the term "nooner"! Oh, and that weekly "all company" meeting where everyone is there but only the presenter camera is on?... you have no idea what is happening during the boring round of every team manager promoting the this or that which their team was up to.
- z9znz 4y agoI don't care a whit about rep or points... Someone please explain to me why the downvotes so I can understand. Is it some puritanical thing? I'm baffled. Or is HN leaning toward the incel concept? If so, I would argue that nerds are especially well suited for pleasing mates. We live to understand systems and provide optimal solutions. So all we need do is find a partner and serve them. If that's your issue, be not dismayed. My partner liked to do her work, boring documentation crap, while I did my work on her. It was fun for both of us, and it was certainly a new kind of thing which could not exist in the office space. No doubt, she did high quality work with some pauses. And I made the best of the opportunity. Those of you downvoting, be real and explain your reasoning. Or fuck off. Edited: too many typos :(... am I slipping?
- jeffbee 4y agoOK let's put "boom" in perspective. The 2021 ACS estimate puts the under-5-year age cohort as the smallest cohort, smaller even than my pathetically sparse mid-gen-x age bracket. So whatever boom is going on must have happened post-2021, which isn't consistent with the article, or was not large enough to offset the overall down trend.
- poulsbohemian 4y agoIt's election season and I've been out talking to voters, who share their life stories... what I would say is that there are many women who are choosing WFH because they either can't afford or can't find day care, which may lead to deciding that hey, they might as well have another baby if they are now committed to this employment model. I've spoken to several women who were over-qualified for the jobs they had taken to WFH, but felt it was the best job situation for their families - spouse could then take on new career opportunities when both weren't struggling with commutes, day care, etc. So this article feels like it is overlooking the way women have stepped up for their families often to the detriment of their own careers.
- CalRobert 4y agoWe had two kids largely because my wife was resigned to her career already being destroyed, so why not?
- rs999gti 4y ago> wife was resigned to her career already being destroyed Really? She traded one job for another or does corporate life really matter that much to her?
- Pasorrijer 4y agoA fairly significant amount of women have dedicated a decent amount of time, and money, academically, socially, etc. To their careers. Why, some women have even found working to be more enjoyable to being at home with kids. All joking aside, my wife is extremely worried about the impact her career will take from having children and her life goals include executive level leadership as part of her career. So you could, in fact say that corporate life really does matter that much to her.
- WalterBright 4y agoShe can always start her own business. Don't need anyone's approval for that.
- dxbydt 4y ago"If the lights and the T.V. are out, it kind of sets the table for romance . . . But, if you're running for your life, you can't make babies." - https://www.cargenerator.com/blogs/news/is-the-blackout-baby-boom-fact-or-fiction https://www.cargenerator.com/blogs/news/is-the-blackout-baby... Baby booms have previously been positively correlated with blackouts, snowstorms, hurricanes and power outages. Now, remote work is a covariate as well. We're heading into a prolonged 2023 recession, coupled with job cuts, energy shortage, remote work as cost-cutting recipe and climate-related catastrophes inducing major downtime => huge baby boom in 2024.
- nervousvarun 4y agoAgree with that but have a question...you'd think logically with children being a major expense that economic downturns != more babies. Is that not the case?
- jboggan 4y agoMaking babies is one of the least logic-driven decisions you will make in your life.
- chasd00 4y ago> Making babies is one of the least logic-driven decisions you will make in your life. or at least the process of making babies :)
- rmk 4y agoThat is true. It is pointed out prominently in the article that this is a rare instance of a baby boom in an economic downturn.
- rs999gti 4y ago> huge baby boom in 2024 Good. The US needs the new tax base.
- 4y ago
- _trampeltier 4y agoI think a lot of people think with WFH they don't need somebody else for childcare. At least in my company (because of the bosses too) WFH is mostly a farce because they do work and childcare at the same time.
- kissgyorgy 4y agoWith a title like this, I’m pretty sure the author doesn’t know how babies are made.
- _yb2s 4y agonot gonna lie, getting to have a mid-day 'nap' with my GF while we WFH together is pretty great, I can see how it can lead to this
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- mutator 4y agoGiven the general degradation and lack of investment in physical infrastructure to support any growing baby boom, eg. childcare, education etc, what worries me is life being a lot more competitive for this lot of babies.
- chiefalchemist 4y ago> long-term issue of falling birth rates — a possible driver of declining economic growth Pardon the slightly off-topic comment but statements like these are misleading. It's economic growth in the true sense of having X and growing it into X+Y. At best, it's more like economic expansion. The truth is, it's population growth. Instead of the abstraction why not simply report the population growth knowing that eventually the economy will expand to that population? There's a difference between "the economy grew" and "more births." Maybe it's because politicians can't really take credit for the latter?
- aantix 4y agoElon is worried about a population crisis, yet he's anti-remote work..
- downrightmike 4y agoHe's not worried about anything other than micromanaging.
- madrox 4y agoI made a joke on twitter at the beginning of the pandemic that we'd see a baby boom because of quarantine. Someone dryly replied to me that it'd be entirely among families getting their first child. I went looking for this line in the article, and sure enough... "The increase in birth rates was more pronounced for first-time mothers..."
- joshxyz 4y agojokes on you, not only in your country!
- mbfg 4y agoi find it interesting that the title is "a baby boom among US Women". Why would women be called out here? Why wouldn't it just be a baby boom, or a baby boom among US parents? Once again, giving women sole responsibility and blame for babies.