Recent reports have found that the U.S. birthrate dropped by 4% in 2020, bringing the number of births in the U.S. to the lowest number since 1979. While it is not unusual for birth rates to decline during a season of economic and political uncertainty, it is unlikely that this year’s drop is just a “blip on the radar” considering that birth rates were declining prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and hit a 32-year-low in 2018.
Alongside the drop in birth rates, there are also rising rates of hopelessness and despair among young Americans, a rejection of marriage and family, and a growing embrace of anti-natalism, an ideology that believes people have an obligation not to have children, usually rooted in fears of a looming climate catastrophe.
U.S. marriage rates also hit an all-time low recently, and for the first time in our nation’s history, only half of American adults are married. It is hardly a surprise that this is happening as today’s young adults report higher levels of stress, anxiety, loneliness, and hopelessness than earlier generations. While most members of Gen Z are below the average age for marriage, trends that have been observed in Millennials may tell us something about the likelihood that many in this younger cohort will choose to forgo marriage and family altogether. Young adults who have adopted a hopeless view of the future are often reluctant to commit to marriage and may be less interested in having children because they believe that the world they will be handing off to them will be far worse than the one they have known.
Anti-natalism is rooted in such a view of the future, believing that life itself is so horrible, and only getting worse, that it is wrong to “inflict” it on another generation, or that humans are so bad that it would be better for the planet if they didn’t exist. In order to address this lie, we must address the hopelessness behind it and help people to see that life is a gift and that whatever the future brings, there is joy and hope because the Lord reigns!
Anti-natalism fails to see that life is a gift, and anti-natalists who are driven by fears about the environment make the additional mistake of believing that it is possible to love all of creation except for humans. Stewardship of God’s creation does not and cannot mean rejecting and resenting God’s image-bearers. Furthermore, Lyman Stone, an economist and adjunct fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, has pointed out that the overpopulation argument simply doesn’t hold up, and that the real issue is sustainable practices. Anti-natalists also fail to account for the fact that a “graying population,” that is when there are fewer children and young adults than aging adults in need of care, puts a greater strain on resources and makes sustainable practices difficult.
In addition to fear, anxiety, and anti-natalist ideas, but the cultural emphasis on “self-fulfillment” and career play a role in declining birth rates, as well. This was recently on display when a New York Times essay published over Mother’s Day weekend received immediate backlash because columnist Elizabeth Bruenig said she was glad that she didn’t wait until she was “established” before she had her first child. One commentator even said that she would have preferred Bruenig had written a piece about wishing she hadn’t become a mother.
The assumption that children are a burden, rather than a blessing, is a deadly lie that is all too prevalent in our culture right now. Children are a gift, and it is a truly incredible thing that parents are entrusted with training, teaching, and nurturing God’s image-bearers. Sadly, a growing number of adults do not see this and instead reject the beauty of God’s design.
This rejection is also profoundly disrespectful and harmful toward couples who are struggling with infertility. It is estimated that between 6-12% of couples in the U.S. are affected by infertility. These couples are grieving a real and deep loss. Sadly, the growing tendency to see children as optional or even undesirable often makes them invisible and minimizes their pain by denying that their desire for a family is a good thing. This is not only a refusal to weep with those who weep, it is a refusal to even acknowledge that there is a reason to weep.
Scripture teaches that children are a heritage from the Lord, and as Christians, we understand the incredible value of human life and the beauty of God’s design for the family. The sad truth is that our culture is losing sight of these things. A declining birthrate has economic, political, and cultural implications, and it reveals a value shift that is taking place. A growing number of adults are rejecting marriage and family and are embracing ideas that are rooted in misanthropy and hopelessness. Marriage, family, and children are no longer recognized as essential for a healthy society, and a growing number of people are beginning to see them as a problem. It is up to us to lead the way in countering these lies and pointing people to the goodness and beauty of God’s design.
