Grist for Longman’s mill
In the March/April issue of FP, Phillip Longman predicted that patriarchy will make a comeback because secular liberals don’t have enough babies as the opportunity costs are just too high for them. A new poll of Britons offers support for his thesis. The Guardian reports that it found that 61 percent of people thought it ...
In the March/April issue of FP, Phillip Longman predicted that patriarchy will make a comeback because secular liberals don’t have enough babies as the opportunity costs are just too high for them.
In the March/April issue of FP, Phillip Longman predicted that patriarchy will make a comeback because secular liberals don’t have enough babies as the opportunity costs are just too high for them.
A new poll of Britons offers support for his thesis. The Guardian reports that it found that 61 percent of people thought it was more important to live comfortably than to have kids. While 64 percent of men and 51 percent of women believe women enjoying themselves is more crucial than them reproducing. (What the detailed polling data doesn’t tell you is whether the more religiously inclined buck these trends. But it seems a safe assumption that they do.)
Longman’s other argument, that governments can do little to halt this trend, is also bolstered by the survey. When offered 6 options as to why people don’t have children—people focus on their careers instead, having children is too expensive, couples don’t stay together these days, people leave it too late, there is less pressure on women to have children now, and there is not enough support from government—government support, or lack there of, came bottom of the list. But no one can accuse the Blairs of failing to lead by example. They have 4 children, way above the UK average of 1.77.
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