Let’s Have More Babies?!?
A recent Barron’s article by Jack Hough, “Bet on a Baby Bounce,”(link) presents an intriguing (and somewhat tongue in cheek) argument that the economy will do better if millennials simply decide to have more babies. Sounds reasonable, right?
He cites Bank of America data that while overall births have declined in nine out of the last 10 years, births have risen modestly by 0.9% among women between the ages of 35 and 39. Children born to women between 40-44 have increased as well. Hough reasons that “couples are waiting to have kids, but they haven’t quite forgotten how.”
Hough even cheekily suggests that the growth of streaming services such as Netflix and the upcoming launch of Disney and Apple services may lead to a surprise uptick in baby births. “All that couch time could drive a year-over-year expansion in funny business. That’s just science,” he surmises.
More seriously, Hough contends that the longer millennials wait to have children, the more disposable income they’ll have to spend on their children and this will benefit the many companies that serve the baby market and help spark the overall economy. He further maintains that fertility rates, not just in the U.S. but in other countries, can be important economic drivers, with population growth playing a major role in economic gains.
When thinking about your own investment strategies, reviewing data and indexes are of course important, but don’t forget to follow cultural changes as well, particularly among millennials.
Hough’s conclusion: let’s have more babies and millennials should lead the way:
“Let’s start pressing millennials to have more kids. Don’t be afraid to tap strangers on the shoulder on line at Chipotle. Also, Congress should expand the Federal Reserve’s mandate to include spicing up national romance. Don’t laugh: Chairman Jerome Powell is one of six kids, and he has three of his own. That guy knows a thing or two about getting the economy going.”
So, get busy millennials, it’s your patriotic duty!
Your thoughts?
