Raising a family has become harder and more expensive than ever before. The New York Times recently reported that based on the survey of adults between the ages of 2045 who were parents or plan to be. One in four had newer children or expected that during their life times they would have fewer children than they considered to be within the range of ideal. Economic concerns were foremost among the reasons that they either fell short or believed that in the future they would fall short of what they considered ideal. The joint economic committees social Capital Project has been documenting trends in what we refer to as our association on life as americans, that is the web of social relationships for which we as americans pursue various endeavors, our families, our communities, our friendships, our religious congregations, for example. A critical source of meaning and social capital is of course the family. In fact, it is the central set of headwaters for social connecttiveness generally.
The joint costs of raising a child. The hearing is over two hours. Good afternoon. Thank you for being here to join us for this hearing of the joint economic hearing committee. The American Economy is thriving. The current expansion is the longest in history. Unemployment has remained below 4 over the last 18 months. We have seen consistently solid gdp growth and job creation. , notwithstanding the successes, for many parents across this country, raising a family has become harder and more expensive. The New York Times recently reported that based on the survey adults between the ages who are parents or plan to be, they discovered interesting trends. Childrenur had fewer or expected they would have fewer children than they expected to be within the range of ideal. Economic concerns were foremost among the reasons, that they fell short or believed in the future they fell short of what they would consider ideal. These social Capital Project has documented trends in what we associationalr