Professor Leonard Schoppa was quoted in Stephanie Murray's recent piece in The Atlantic about the economic perils of low fertility rates. The article considers a number of approaches other countries have used to make parenthood less financially burdensome, and to try to increase birthrates. In some cases these policies aren't enough to overcome the challenges parents face in the workplace. As Dr. Schoppa points out, Japan’s birth rate hasn’t increased despite ostensibly parenthood-friendly policies, since "'most career jobs in Japan ask employees to work until 08:00 or 09:00 pm every night and accept transfers at the risk of their continued employment.' Generous parental leave and subsidized child care won’t persuade someone to have a child when that person’s job is incompatible with parenting."

Read the full article here.