Pronatalism meets Abundance
A great new book on homelessness, Housing First backtracking, and how Trump's immigration policies could affect child care
Hi all,
Happy spring! The most beautiful time in DC. 🌸
Today I have a piece looking at the crossover between two buzzy policy conversations right now, "pronatalism” and Abundance. If those don’t sound familiar to you, congratulations you are probably online a healthier amount. The translated version: could more affordable housing boost fertility? I took a look at some of the emerging research, and some of the larger cultural barriers that would still be here even if we YIMBY’d everything.
Last week a journalist named Brian Goldstone published a really terrific new book on the people experiencing homelessness in America yet holding down full-time jobs. It’s largely invisible crisis — many of these working people never show up in federal homelessness statistics — and I really enjoyed getting to have a Q&A with him about how his reporting ties into the larger debates we see around homeless encampments, affordable housing, and welfare. You can read that here.
I wrote about how the ramped up threat of deportation under Trump could affect the child care sector — and what daycares are doing to protect themselves and the families they serve. For context, immigrants make up ~20 percent of the US child care industry, and nearly 50 percent in some cities. As I hope my readers know, I work hard to avoid alarmism in my coverage and steer clear of calling things a “crisis” if they’re not. But I finished reporting this with the firm belief that this all definitely merits real concern, and we have research from past bouts of enforcement to show why. You can read that here.
Project 2025 called for HUD to end "Housing First" policies and now the Trump administration is on track to do just that. I’ve written at length before about Housing First and its approach to ending homelessness, and in this story I look at what it means for the administration to be distancing itself from it now. You can read that here.
(I also did a postscript thread on X with additional thoughts about why, after years of covering these issues, I do think Housing First advocates need to reconsider some aspects of their advocacy. )
Thanks so much for reading. Friday marks my third year at Vox, which I think went really fast?! But then again I’ve also definitely lost all sense of time. I should add that Vox recently announced it will be offering ad-free podcasts to anyone who signs up to be a member, so if that’s something you’re interested in (or just interested in supporting my reporting) can sign up here. I really love Vox’s podcasts for what it’s worth. If you do sign up they’ll send you an email asking what motivated you… and just know my bosses do read those answers closely 😂