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CV NEWS FEED // In an op-ed, two family life experts argue that liberal family policies don’t effectively help families; birth rates are still higher in red states.
Institute for Family Studies President Brad Wilcox and Michael Pugh, a research associate at the American Enterprise Institute’s Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility, wrote on Deseret News that while many journalists and academics argue that the liberal policies of blue states, like paid family leave, free lunch at school and universal pre-K, make these states a better place for families, studies do not show that families are flourishing in these states.
“Is the blue-state family model working outside the halls of academia and the pages of The Washington Post — in other words, in the real world?” the authors asked. “There are mounting signs the answer is ‘no.’”
They pointed to Center for Disease Control (CDC) data that shows the states that tend to vote red had higher fertility rates in 2022. The states with the highest fertility rates were South Dakota (2.01), Texas (1.81) and Utah (1.80). Blue states like Vermont (1.30), Oregon (1.35) and California (1.48) all had significantly lower birth rates.
The article also noted that while families are very likely to move from a blue state to a red state, the reverse is much more unlikely. The Institute for Family Studies found that between 2021-2022, approximately 180,000 more families migrated from blue to red states than the reverse.
The authors wrote that economic and cultural factors may contribute to the higher birth rates of Republican states.
“Economically, red states typically offer more affordable housing, hotter job markets and lower taxes,” they wrote, all of which are appealing to young or growing families.
“Culturally, red states are more likely to prioritize marriage and family life, offer parents more educational choices and show a greater commitment to law and order, which are plusses to many family minded Americans,” they continued.
The authors then took up an argument presented in the book “New Families, No Families?: The Transformation of the American Home” by Frances Goldscheider and Linda Waite. These demographers argued that American families would only continue if they adopt a progressive mindset, as liberal men would be more likely to be engaged in family life and thus more likely to form families.
“But what Goldscheider and Waite did not anticipate was that the ‘new’ commitments to education and career and expressive individualism —what we call the ‘Midas Mindset’ found in many young men and women today — are more likely to dominate blue states,” the article’s authors wrote.
They stated that young adults in blue states are more likely to delay or forego family life entirely.
“By contrast, many red states, especially ones where religious faith is strong (like Utah), prioritize the value of getting married and focusing on your family rather than putting most of your eggs in the baskets of work and self,” they continued.
They also wrote that studies have shown that religious fathers and husbands, a higher population of which reside in red states, prioritize marriage and family, including aspects like housework, which makes family life more appealing for their wives.
The authors wrote that birth rates, however, are also falling in red states.
“Both blue and red states have work to do to create a culture and a family friendly economy for their young adults,” the authors wrote.
Still, according to current fertility trends, Democratic states will have to work “much harder” to pursue family life, as “trends in family migration and fertility suggest the blue-state family model is more family unfriendly than the red one to Americans interested in starting, growing or raising a family.”
