Are people having the families they want? Why or why not? And are women really to blame for low fertility rates? A new report surveyed 14,000 people in 14 countries to really understand what is happening and why fertility rates are dropping all over. The findings may surprise some policy makers who are struggling to identify incentives for families, but really shouldn't surprise any of us. Spoiler: people want MORE children! Take a listen. 

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85% of all American women change their names at the time of marriage. If passed, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act could disenfranchise these women because their current legal name does not match the name on their birth certificate. How could this be? Why would we want to do this? Note: the SAVE act has passed the US house and is moving to the Senate, so keep your eye on this one. 

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"Have more babies!" is the Trump administration's current family initiative. Huh? If you’ve never heard of ‘pro-natalism,’ this is for you. Join us for a talk of fertility treatments, Elon Musk, car seats, Nobel Prize winner Claudia Goldin, childcare, why families do and do not want babies, and much more. This is one topic you’ll want to keep an eye on.

Resources: 1. Reasons adults give for not having children, Need to boost population? Encourage dads to step up at home. — Harvard Gazette, Babies and the Macroeconomy | NBER, The Pro-Family Policy This Nation Actually Needs - The Atlantic, The Far Right’s Campaign to Explode the Population - POLITICO

Childcare meets economics. This episode dives into how access to affordable, high-quality childcare shapes families, communities, and the economy at large.

Resources: Data Dashboard: An Overview of Child Care and Early Learning in the United States - Center for American Progress, Lakewood Ranch business leads way in new Florida support for employee childcare, Florida childcare tax credits help Sarasota businesses keep employees

We talk with Professor Law Emerita, Elizabeth Spahn, about the fascinating and surprising history of Christian views on the beginning of human life - and It's most certainly not what you think. We cover the start of life, from Aristotle to Dobbs in 37 easy-to-understand minutes - you'll never think about conception the same way again.

Resources: Arrested at gunpoint, charged as a felon: a midwife’s lot in anti-abortion Texas | Arwa Mahdawi | The Guardian, The Week in Patriarchy | The Guardian, State Bans on Abortion Throughout Pregnancy | Guttmacher Institute, ES: law review article, Religious views on abortion more diverse than they may appear in U.S. political debate, Texas Senate Bill 2880

Without equal resources, is equality even possible? In this episode, we look at the gender gaps in both pay and accumulated wealth: what the gaps mean, why these gaps are still with us, and what we can do.

Resources: Gender pay gap in U.S. has narrowed slightly over 2 decades, Reckoning With the Hidden Rules of Gender in the Tax Code: How Low Taxes on Corporations and the Wealthy Impact Women’s Economic Opportunity and Security - National Women's Law Center, Real and nominal value of the minimum wage U.S. 2024| Statista, Facts and figures: Economic empowerment | UN Women – Headquarters, The Enduring Grip of the Gender Pay Gap, The Gender Wage Gap Widened For the First Time in Two Decades, and Trump Responds by Rolling Back Protections that Help Workers Discover Discriminatory Pay | National Partnership for Women & Families, Women already earn less. Trump’s labor cuts could make the pay gap easier to hide., Magazine Home Page

Who does care work? Why? And why does it matter? Join us for a look at paid and unpaid care work - nursing home aides, day care, cleaning, and all that goes with it - and see why it's a serious women's issue.

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