‘Hannah’s Children’ author Catherine Pakaluk on population decline and the link between large families and faith

Discussions of family size have increased in political and religious discourse as U.S. birth rates hit historic lows. Catherine Pakaluk, an economist and associate professor at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., recently authored “Hannah’s Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth” (Regnery, 2024). Pakaluk, herself a mother of eight children, takes a deep dive into the stories of the American women choosing to have large families amid the trend of plummeting birth rates. She recently spoke with OSV News’ Charlie Camosy about what she found about these women and how faith plays a key role in decisions about family size.

Charlie Camosy: Most books come from a personal place for authors and yours actually begins with a personal anecdote. Could you say something about how this book comes out of your lived experience?​

Catherine Pakaluk: It’s funny how true this is — that books come from a personal place for authors. Well, this book started when a stranger on a train blurted out “I guess your husband still wants you” when she learned I had six kids. Loaded with tragic force, I spent years thinking about that comment. What could it mean? What did it reveal? I knew then that “Hannah’s Children” had to be written — even though at the time it was a seedling of an idea with no form. I was simply captured by the idea that the hidden life of larger families may have something to offer the conversation about the decline of family life writ large.

Camosy: And then you obviously focused on the lived experience of others for your research. Can you say something about that process and two to three central takeaways?​

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