Zero-sum thinking on immigration will make America poorer

Re:Zero-sum thinking on immigration will make America poorer by kelnos on Monday June 29, 2020 @05:25AM (#23675852)

At some point I question why people want to have children if their idea of "raising a child" is shipping them off as early as possible to have someone else raise them. Sure, situations vary, but it feel like these sorts of incentives eventually encourage parents not to parent.

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Re:Zero-sum thinking on immigration will make America poorer by photonios on Monday June 29, 2020 @09:44AM (#23677506)

Example of some incentives where I live:

- Pregnant women can start working 6 hours a day at full pay from week 12.

- Up to two years of paternity leave at ~80% pay, capped at roughly 3x the median wage. Either parent can take this, or it can be split.

- 3 weeks of paternity leave after giving birth for the father.

This means a couple can muddle through the first two years of a child's live without worrying about paying for day care of having to quit jobs.

Note that this incentives are country-wide and available for all citizens. The government pays you indirectly while you are in paternity leave.

How does this encourage not parenting?

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Re:Zero-sum thinking on immigration will make America poorer by arcticbull on Monday June 29, 2020 @11:10AM (#23678297)

Broadly that falls under the category of "development" and will have the opposite effect, lowering birth rates, and that's fine. Finland has all of that and more -- in addition to high wages and low inequality. They'll even mail you a box of supplies when you have a child. They have a birth rate of 1.48 vs Canada's 1.5 vs US 1.77

Yes, we should have those things.

No, they won't increase birth rates, they'll probably drive them down. I know it's counterintuitive, but they data is very clear.

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