The REAL REASON Nobody Is Having Kids

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Chris tackles the collapsing U.S. birth rate, echoing Elon Musk’s warnings and linking it to skyrocketing costs of living—housing, childcare (30.7% of income in Massachusetts), and education. He dismisses Trump’s “baby bonus” as a gimmick, arguing only lower costs via less government interference (e.g., student loans, property taxes) can reverse the trend. Markowski ties this to his Q1 GDP contraction (0.3% drop, tariff-driven) and tourism slump, highlighting economic pressures. www.watchdogonwallstreet.com

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it we'll have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Birth rate collapse. It's something even Elon Musk has been
warning everyone about. It's something that we are witnessing not
just here in the United States, but it's much more
entrenched in other parts around the world, in particular Europe.
China had its one child policy which was completely detrimental,

(00:38):
and Japan as well. Gimmicks are not going to solve
the problem. You get stories here talking about various different
ways we can create a baby boom. Trump floated the
idea of a baby bonus and cutting a check to
people out there when it comes to women when they

(01:00):
have a baby. No, no, that that baby bonus would
just be used quite frankly by nefarious people, and it
wouldn't really help. It comes down to money. I'd be
quite honest with you, it really does. I'm gonna tell
everybody's story. This is years ago, years ago. I'm on

(01:23):
vacation and Greece and I've got my three young kids
with me, and you know, speaking some of the neighbor
to where my wife's cousins lived, you know, older lady.
I mean they they would fawn over my kids. It
was as if they found like a pot of gold,

(01:45):
each and every one of them. I mean, my kids
would get their butts kissed by you know, all of
these Creeks that were there because they were just so
excited where they were just to see kids. And it
was explained to me by one of rec which trikes
that you know, all we had in this little town
that we were at, uh not far from Patra. You know,

(02:07):
we have always the way that they said in Greece,
all we have is teers. We don't have joy in
the sense that kids aren't being born when they all
have his tears is they're going to funerals all the time.
They're not having you know, the christenings, they're not having
all of these things. Kids aren't being born. Why why, Well,

(02:33):
it's it's expensive. It's expensive. We give example, I'll use
we talked about grace. I use Greece and example. It's
the same thing when it comes to Italy or other
countries as well. They have everybody talks about Our college
and universities are free if you get in Okay, you

(02:56):
first have to get in. And schooling is a lot
different over there than it is here. Parents spend a
lot of money tutors and whatnot in order you got
to get their kids into various different schools. They don't
make the type of money that we make here in

(03:19):
the United States, and people make choices and say, well,
you know what, I cannot afford. Cannot afford to have
two three kids. You see families with one or two,
but very rarely see three and above. And if you
think it's any different here in the United States, you're crazy.

(03:43):
How expensive has this country become? You think about it,
price of housing, price of food, price of kids, sports,
extracurricular activities, college education. When I was starting my family,
you don't think that I was thinking about all of

(04:05):
those things and what they were going to cost down
the road. And again, the type of life that I
wanted to show my kids. I wanted to be able
to spend time with them. I wanted to be able
to whatever activity that they were involved with. I wanted
to be able to support them in that. I don't
care if it was ath athletics or music or the arts,

(04:29):
whatever it may be. Okay, I wanted to be able
to support them in that, and that costs money, a
lot of money, and many you know, young families. Now
people are married, they're taking a look at their student

(04:51):
own debt, they're taking a look at the cost of living,
they're taking a look at the cost of housing, and
they're making a prudent choice. They're making a prudent choice saying, listen,
you know this is what this is what we can afford,
this is what we're capable of doing. They just you know, listed,

(05:13):
I just saw a list of the costs childcare costs
as a percentage of people's income in certain states. Massachusetts
was I think, like thirty point seven percent average people's income.
New York was like it was second, like thirty point two. Whoa,

(05:36):
whoa Again, that was choices that I made my fav
I didn't you know, I wanted my wife to be
home and be a mother to the kids. You know,
granted I work a lot, but I have a lot
of flexibility and what I'm able to do. My in
laws were nearby, my parents were nearby, so we always

(05:56):
had a lot of help in getting things done. Didn't
really have to worry about those costs because of that.
But it's a reality to reality, and you know, it's
almost to the point in time. I know people want
to have their careers and everything like that, but you know,
I've actually made the suggestion, Listen, you know, is it

(06:18):
really worth it? Is it really worth having both parents
out there working when you know you're spending that that
proportion of what you're making on childcare anyway, And that's
the reason why. And until we get the cost of
living down in this country, and we've discussed a million

(06:40):
different ways we can go about doing that, in the
government out of the way, getting the government out of
student loans, reducing the cost about increasing the housing stock
that is available, getting rid of you know, odorous property taxes,
where again people are afraid to move and sell a
house that's too big for them because again they're going

(07:00):
to go into another house and their property tax are
going go through roof. We shoot ourselves in the feet.
We're not going to be able to raise the American
birth rate. It's just not going to happen until the
cost of living comes down. There's no gimmick, there's no trick,
there's no child tax credit. All these politicians, they float
all of these things all the time. Okay, it's nonsense

(07:26):
not to mention the fact you're gonna have a child.
You're gonna decide your family. Your family planning is going
to be involved with whether or not you're getting a
baby bonus or some child tax credit. No. No, you're
gonna basically say, Okay, this is what we can afford.
The American family is not cheap, not cheap by any

(07:52):
stretch of the imagination. Watchdog on Wall Street dot Com