Efforts to improve housing quality by reducing fire risk and health code violations eliminated the housing in some single room occupancy hotels and raised the cost of others. Those who could not afford the higher-cost housing went to live on the streets. Rates of child-bearing by women under 20 years of age are higher in the United States than in any of the world's other developed countries. Economic analysis of fertility rates in several European and developing countries has shown that women with greater income earning opportunities have fewer children. The US teenage child-bearing rate has fallen for the past three consecutive years.
Economic analysis shows why.
The current long-running economic expansion has trickled down to teenage girls and provided them with more jobs. This has raised the opportunity cost of their time, including the time for child-bearing. Their reaction to the increased cost of children has been to have fewer of them. In almost every year Americans face elections, whether local, state, or federal. These elections lead to an onslaught of election issues, such as the optimal levels of taxes and government spending, campaign funding and spending, deficits, and debt repayment.