The Left Has a Baby Dilemma | The American Spectator

A recent NBC poll found that Gen Z women, ages 18-29, who voted for Kamala Harris in 2024, rank having children as least important to their personal definition of success. By stark contrast, Gen Z men who voted for President Donald Trump rank having children as most important.

Not only does this poll showcase a major divergence in priorities among Gen Z men and women, but also a contradiction and dilemma at the heart of the Left’s political agenda. Many young, progressive women aren’t interested in raising the next generation, which is crucial to building the more diverse, equitable, and inclusive future they envision.

Progressives generally champion a robust social safety net with generous entitlements and handouts, including Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, public pensions, and SNAP. They insist on increased funding for public education, public media, infrastructure, and climate initiatives. (RELATED: This Is What Civilizational Suicide Looks Like)

Expenditures for these policies require a large tax base to pay for them, but a core commitment of today’s progressives is a brand of feminism that regards childbearing as an impediment to women’s autonomy or even a danger to the planet. Many applaud crashing fertility rates and welcome a world with fewer humans, apparently without contemplating that their entitlement and welfare programs risk insolvency with a contracting workforce. AI and automation may assist with productivity, but robots aren’t going to pay taxes that keep government programs afloat. (RELATED: Desired Fertility Is Too Low to Avoid Depopulation)

Some on the Left who are aware of this issue view immigration as a solution. In May, Hillary Clinton lambasted Vice President JD Vance and Elon Musk for encouraging more American births and suggested that immigrants can solve the problems of an aging and declining population. (RELATED: Trump’s Poll Numbers Rise, Resistance 2.0 Flops)

But fertility rates are rapidly descending worldwide, regardless of economic development. The supply of immigrant labor will diminish over time, and competition for scarcer immigrants will increase, especially among countries with the highest old-age dependency ratios.

This means that progressives can’t expect immigrants to always fill the demographic gap. Eventually, the crisis of low fertility will have to be addressed, and individual Americans will need to decide that the opportunity costs of having children are worth it. (RELATED: What Will the US Do When Young People Begin to Disappear?)

As the global birth dearth receives more attention, both from the media and business leaders like Elon Musk, a new catchphrase is regularly appearing in comments sections online: “The wolves are angry the sheep aren’t breeding.” The underlying assumption is that elites want more “worker bees” and consumers to serve as cogs in the capitalist machine, and dread profit losses due to fewer humans to exploit.

But poor people everywhere, dependent on public assistance for healthcare and other basic necessities, will be the most vulnerable to the economic consequences of depopulation. For wealthier individuals who can afford out-of-pocket, concierge medical services, an inverted population pyramid is less of a problem.

It’s difficult to imagine Democrats ever running for office with “Do it for DEI” campaign ads, but the future of left-wing politics may be in jeopardy if progressives don’t articulate a compelling case for motherhood.

Since Republicans generally have more children than Democrats, and some evidence indicates that political orientation may be partially determined by genetics, it is possible that the American electorate could become more conservative over the next several generations.

READ MORE from Aidan Grogan:

Desired Fertility Is Too Low to Avoid Depopulation

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Aidan Grogan is a history PhD candidate at Liberty University, a contributor with Young Voices and the donor communications manager at the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER). His work has been published in National Review, The Daily Wire, The Federalist, The American Spectator, RealClearMarkets, and AIER’s The Daily Economy. Follow him on X @AidanGrogan.