Can the State Influence Baby-Making With Policy?
They're sure as hell trying.
On today's Reason Roundtable Matt Welch stokes Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, and Nick Gillespie on natalist policies, public-school hesitancy, and gender disparities.
Discussed in the show:
1:16: How policies do or do not affect people's personal decisions re: baby-making. Plus, child subsidies, and universal basic income for parents.
21:31: Parents give pause to their children returning to public schools after 2020 proved public schools to be finicky and teachers unions to be nasty.
32:54: No, the high rate of unemployment and gender disparity in the recent Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report are not surprising.
41:19: Weekly Listener Question: I work with small business owners, many of whom are
restaurant owners. Many are in the process of applying for the newly available Restaurant Revitalization Fund operated by the Small Business Administration. The program opens today (May 3). However, if you are not a woman, veteran, or socially or economically disadvantaged (read: from a certain race) business owner, you will not be considered for support from this program for 21 days, regardless of need. From a libertarian perspective, do you feel that this is a discriminatory or racist program, or is this a fair approach to supporting small businesses?
54:15: Weekly Media Recommendations.
This weeks links:
- "Are Women Less Able to Fulfill their Fertility Goals?" by Scott Winship
- "I Became a Mother at 25, and I'm Not Sorry I Didn't Wait," by Elizabeth Bruenig
- "Schools Are Open, but Many Families Remain Hesitant to Return," by Dana Goldstein
- "The Small Business Administration Picks Losers Over Winners," by Adam Andrzejewski
- "Paycheck Protection Program Exclusion of Nude Dancing Establishments Upheld," by Eugene Volokh
- "Disaster Relief for Small Businesses Is a Disaster All Its Own," by Veronique de Rugy
- "New Jobs Report Shows the Government Gets the Unemployment It's Paying For," by Christian Britschgi
- "Covid Relief Funds Fueled a High-Performance Shopping Spree, Prosecutors Say," by Azy Paybarah
Send your questions to roundtable@reason.com. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.
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Audio production by Ian Keyser.
Assistant production by Regan Taylor.
Music: "Angeline," by The Brothers Steve.
