Americans provide approximately 36 billion hours of unpaid care annually. This labor underpins the entire formal economy. Its invisibility in economic accounting is a choice with political consequences.
Every wealthy country is having fewer children than needed to sustain its population. The policy responses have largely failed. Understanding why reveals something important about what people actually want.
When people cannot afford to live near where they work, near where they grew up, or near the people they love, the social fabric tears. The housing shortage has costs that cost-of-living statistics don't capture.