“Provocative, funny, warm and moving....”
“An unblinking look at the impact of contemporary culture on marriage, procreation and demography, and family life.”
“With practical views and advice, Carney offers a road map toward better parenting.”
“Family Unfriendly is a treasure: studded with valuable facts that every policymaker needs to know; and sparkling with wit that will delight parents and non-parents alike.”
“Americans are overwhelmed by the idea of raising kids—and understandably so. Tim Carney’s Family Unfriendly is the book we all need to understand the problems, and then meet them head-on with hope and joy.”
What makes our culture so Family Unfriendly?
Tim discussed parenting culture on the Megyn Kelly Show.
Family Unfriendly: A Book Event
Tim discussed some themes from the book and then fielded questions from Washington Post editor Alyssa Rosenberg.
“Child-care subsidies, marriage penalties and maternity care all deserve attention, but one government action that would greatly help today’s parents is almost entirely local—and involves concrete, grass and some crosswalk paint. American cities and towns need to reorient infrastructure to make it easier for kids to walk and bike freely around their neighborhoods.
“Children today are more car-dependent than in past generations, which makes childhood less healthy and less fun, and parenthood more exhausting. In 1969, more than four in 10 American schoolchildren walked or biked to school. The Transportation Department’s most recent National Household Travel Survey, in 2017, found that figure is down to only one in 10.”
“A large clan disabuses parents of the illusion of control. Those of us with larger families mostly know that we cannot micromanage our kids’ lives, and so we don’t try — and everyone ends up happier. In 2018, when ‘Today’ commissioned a survey of 7,000 U.S. mothers, it found that while mothers of three were more stressed than moms of one or two, mothers of four were less stressed.
“In larger families, independent play doesn’t need to mean a choice between loneliness or the frantic scramble for a play date. Bored kids with multiple siblings have live-in playmates with whom to play make-believe or front-yard Wiffle ball.”
“Those who argue that the tax code shouldn’t favor parenthood treat children as a lifestyle choice or a consumption good, like a Tesla. The tax code shouldn’t be pro-Tesla, but it should be pro-human, especially amid our baby bust. America’s fertility is below 1.7 per woman, and the number of births has fallen nearly every year since 2007. An aging society will be a poorer society.”
