The Politicization of Procreation, by John M. Grondelski

A recent issue of The Atlantic carried Kristen Brown’s report, “The Coming Democratic Baby Bust,” which argues that the first Trump Administration was marked by a sharp fall in births in Democratic locales.  Brad Wilcox from the Institute of Family Studies (IFS) and the University of Virginia has also just brought out a study speaking of a “Trump bump,” offering statistics that during Trump I, Republican counties had higher than expected fertility, Democratic ones lower:  “In the past 12 years, the geographic relationship between voting Republican and having more babies has grown by 85 percent.” That news, however, comes with this warning: those kids aren’t necessarily always being born into stable families.  Put plainly, the nexus between wedlock and birthing is also weak in GOP circles.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, perhaps the most compelling one these days is a 40-year-old vice president toting around his three little children.  That is in marked contrast to the previous administration, whose head was pushing 80 and whose party is largely made up of people of the same age and post-menopausal women.  And note I spoke of Vance’s three kids: the last time we remember kids – plural – that young on the White House lawn were Caroline and John-John. ….
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