The number of people having babies dropped during the first year of the pandemic, accelerating a nationwide trend. And the latest data tells us that while birth rates rose very slightly in 2022, it wasn鈥檛 enough to recover the drop from earlier years.
According to a poll from the Pew Research Center in 2021, 56% of childless adults who said they鈥檙e unlikely to have children gave the reason that they just don鈥檛 want to have kids. Other given reasons included medical concerns, financial concerns and climate change.
There are several bills going to committee this week at the Legislature aimed at making it easier to have a baby in Texas.
Sergio Mart铆nez-Beltr谩n, who covers politics for the Texas Newsroom, said part of the reason these bills are being raised now is because of the state鈥檚 near-total abortion ban, which went into effect last August.
鈥淭he whole point of some of these bills that we鈥檙e seeing in the Legislature this year would be to try to support potentially new parents and adoptive parents in this state,鈥� he said. 鈥淎bortion is banned in Texas. So parents are forced to have a kid. So then the state is coming in and trying to support them so they can thrive here.鈥�
There are two bills on the schedule this week. The first, House Bill 300, would exempt pads, tampons and baby diapers from the state sales tax. The second, Senate Bill 222, would establish paid parental leave for state employees. It was sponsored by Sen. Robert Nichols, a Republican who represents Jacksonville, and has several Democratic co-sponsors.
鈥淗e has said, you know, if this were to become law, talented people would be attracted to working for the state government,鈥� Mart铆nez-Beltr谩n said. 鈥淚n an last year, Senator Nichols said he believes that parental leave should not be a luxury for the highest-paid workers. He also said the state government should lead by example and begin to offer paid parental leave to all state employees.鈥�
HB 300 was introduced by Sen. Donna Howard, a Democrat who represents Austin, and also has bipartisan support.
鈥淭his particular bill also has the support of Speaker Dade Phelan, because it鈥檚 one of his priorities,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 big bill carried by a Democrat supported by the Republican speaker of the Texas House in a time where we barely see bipartisanship 鈥� this is pretty huge.鈥�
Mart铆nez-Beltr谩n said he thinks both bills have a good chance of passing both chambers this session.
鈥淭he environment we live in, I think that is playing a big role here. As I mentioned earlier, abortions are severely limited. And in Texas, Democrats have been saying that if the state is going to be truly pro-families, they have to provide additional resources for families to actually thrive in the state,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think that message from the Democrats has definitely resonated with some Republicans, including Senator Nichols.鈥�
Mart铆nez-Beltr谩n said there鈥檚 another bill 鈥� introduced by a group of Democrats 鈥� to watch out for also taking on the issue of parental leave.
鈥淒emocrats have said they want to go even beyond state government. So they filed a bill that would provide parents in the private sector with up to $1,000 in replacement wages per week of absence,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his would apply to parents of newborns and adoptive parents. And again, they say that this would support families in this state and also make the state even more attractive for potential employers.鈥�
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