Tikvah
Editors’ Pick

June 14, 2024

School Vouchers, Not Child Credits, Can Bring the Birthrate Back Up

Learning from Israel’s culture of fertility.

As birthrates decline across the world, countries including the U.S., South Korea, and most famously Hungary have devised various incentives to encourage citizens to have more children. So far, they have little to show for the effort. The economist Catherine Pakaluk believes such policies, which focus on tax breaks, cash payments, and perks like free daycare, are doomed to fail. Instead, she argues, countries should look to religion, and the demographic success of Israel. M.J. Koch writes:

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