# Lady Dopers- What does the state have to put on the table for you to make more babies? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 28, 2017, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-dopers-what-does-the-state-have-to-put-on-the-table-for-you-to-make-more-babies/781011 "2017-02-28T04:10:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-dopers-what-does-the-state-have-to-put-on-the-table-for-you-to-make-more-babies/781011/61 "2017-03-03T18:34:54Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Spain has a 22% unemployment rate. The jobs that exist, many of them do not offer benefits or job security. Fixing that would probably help. > > I could be wrong though, Germany has a 4% unemployment rate and their fertility rate is just as low as Spain. If by “benefits” you mean healthcare there’s no need to offer it: one indication that a company is thinking in foreign is that it offers private medical insurance. Vacation, even illegal jobs offer it. Stuff like maternity leave, what happens is that if you’re working under the table or in a short-term contract you’re likely to lose the job. A lot of the things that Americans call “benefits” are “legal requirements” here. > [@PrairieGrass](#): > > On your decreasing birth rate, Spain…educate, educate, educate the babies you do have. They’re going to have to be razor-sharp to keep up with the robots’ broods. We’re already hypereducated. We’re the guys programming the robots… (seriously, it’s one of the jobs in which we have lots of people; very strong in STEM in general). ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-dopers-what-does-the-state-have-to-put-on-the-table-for-you-to-make-more-babies/781011/62 "2017-03-03T18:54:40Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Imagine giant bulletin boards proclaiming: Want to get revenge on that creating ex? How about the guy who date raped you on prom? Talk to the Population Boaster Office about the Automatic Pardon Program. Bear children for the State and get to take the revenge of your dreams! No legal repercussion! Sounds like a good Lifetime-SciFi movie collaboration. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-dopers-what-does-the-state-have-to-put-on-the-table-for-you-to-make-more-babies/781011/63 "2017-03-03T19:22:30Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > France has done a lot to increase birth rates. > It seems to work, their rates are almost at replacement levels. And the US by same measures has done little or nothing but till recently at least its native birth rate was higher than France’s. And that’s without considering cost effectiveness, just not just whether more welfare state benefits will raise birth rates at all. Of course generous welfare state/high tax systems don’t necessarily have raising the birth rate as their purpose, but are viewed by some as fully justified without that. Others disagree, but it’s a different debate. In the same vein, I don’t believe there is a single easy answer to the correct extent and nature of the welfare state. But those pro- and con- who are reasonable should be able to agree that if you ask people “would you like ‘free’ X” they’ll tend to say “yes”. And if it’s ‘free’ subsidies for bigger families it stands to reason there would be _some_ effect. But women (or men, it is a joint burden in most cases still, economically speaking) really saying it’s a lot more likely they’d have a big family with more welfare state benefits aimed at that, consider me skeptical. And it’s not actually ‘free’, somebody must pay. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-dopers-what-does-the-state-have-to-put-on-the-table-for-you-to-make-more-babies/781011/64 "2017-03-04T20:01:27Z")
A time machine and a couple million dollars. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-dopers-what-does-the-state-have-to-put-on-the-table-for-you-to-make-more-babies/781011/65 "2017-03-04T21:27:45Z")
I’m unattached but I don’t think the state would be the best matchmaker, so if they: Would pay for high quality sperm and were willing to do genetic testing on embryos to ensure I’d carry healthy baby boys (being male is not a guarantee against breast cancer but I only have one male relative who go it vs so many female ones), **and** would pay my annual salary so I could devote full time care to said babies until the youngest was two years old or so, I’d gladly sign up to spend the next five years making babies for the state. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2017, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-dopers-what-does-the-state-have-to-put-on-the-table-for-you-to-make-more-babies/781011/66 "2017-03-06T00:15:20Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Y’know, **ZPG** , folks say that the stereotype of a man-hating, violent feminist is a Straw Man, and oftentimes it is. But every once in a while… \*\*ZPG’s \*\*views are in no way representative of feminism. . ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2017, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-dopers-what-does-the-state-have-to-put-on-the-table-for-you-to-make-more-babies/781011/67 "2017-03-06T13:56:20Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > \*\*ZPG’s \*\*views are in no way representative of feminism. > . Next you’re going to tell me that Berlusconi isn’t representative of decent men. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lady-dopers-what-does-the-state-have-to-put-on-the-table-for-you-to-make-more-babies/781011.md?page=3)