DesiPundit

Sumedha discusses an interesting NYT article on declining population replacement rates in Europe.

Surprisingly, the traditional, ‘family-oriented’ countries (Italy, Spain, Greece) are doing worse than the UK, France and Scandinavia. The author, Russell Shorto, explains this phenomenon as a ‘vise’ wherein women have equal education and employment opportunities, but are still expected to bear all the responsibilities of housework and child care. France, Holland and Scandinavia, on the other hand, have mother-friendly policies, like government-sponsored child care and compulsory paid maternity leave (paternity leave too, in some countries). Fathers contribute more to housework and child care. Hence, these countries have a higher proportion of working mothers, who double the family income and can afford to have a second or third child.