Cohen notes complex decision-making around pregnancy
COVID-19 "baby bust" will have long term effects
Wyatt Gratham-Philips, writing in USA Today, examined the consequences of what is predicted to be a "Baby Bust" due to COVID-19. (This draws on research by Faculty Associate Melissa Kearney and Phillip Levine.)
Faculty Associate Philip Cohen pointed out, "There's kind of a naïve view that birth results in just putting men and women in a room together, but that's not really the way it works in modern society," pointing to both extensive conversations couples have when planning children and the high rate of pregnancies across the country that are unintended.
Cohen explained that unplanned pregnancies are declining because, in efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19, people are moving around and meeting less.