Hi there, I am a relatively new Redditor and love reading this sub! Thank you, moderators and brilliant minds, for all that you do.

My question: I work in aging/healthcare policy and we often talk about the "graying" of America and looming, mid-century workforce shortages as family size shrinks. I joked with an economist colleague that the solution is that we should all have more babies (yowza!) and in the U.S., better workplace policies for families. He said (1) that countries that are wealthier, such as the Nordic nations, have declining fertility rates and (2) family-friendly workplace policies (paid leave, flex time) haven't worked to foster more babies in those wealthier countries.

Is it true that wealthier countries have historically had lower fertility rates and if so, why? Has a country or society ever successfully created a policy that encouraged more babies?