- Feb 5, 2002
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(OSV News) — Depending on the context, the concept of pronatalism — encouraging people to have children, or the promotion of childbearing — can either be cause to celebrate the critical role of the family in society; a techno-elitist vision of a future populated by humans engineered for specific traits; or a cringe-worthy expression of anti-immigrant nativism.
What’s the difference?
The definition found in the Cambridge Dictionary illustrates the complexity of arriving at a universal understanding, flatly stating that pronatalism is “the idea that it is important to have children in order to increase the number of people in a country, especially the number of people who are not immigrants.”
Well, no — not always.
“Fundamentally, when we talk about pronatalism, we are talking about people who think it’s not great that fertility is so low. So if you think it would be nice if we had more babies, you are a pronatalist,” explained Lyman Stone, senior fellow and director of the Pronatalism Initiative at the Institute for Family Studies.
“Now,” he continued, “if you find yourself saying, ‘But that doesn’t seem like most of the people who are described as pronatalist in the media; they seem kind of like weirdos,’ that’s because people think that there should be more babies for lots of different reasons — and they see the problem of low fertility as being a problem for lots of different reasons.”
Continued below.
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What’s the difference?
The definition found in the Cambridge Dictionary illustrates the complexity of arriving at a universal understanding, flatly stating that pronatalism is “the idea that it is important to have children in order to increase the number of people in a country, especially the number of people who are not immigrants.”
Well, no — not always.
“Fundamentally, when we talk about pronatalism, we are talking about people who think it’s not great that fertility is so low. So if you think it would be nice if we had more babies, you are a pronatalist,” explained Lyman Stone, senior fellow and director of the Pronatalism Initiative at the Institute for Family Studies.
“Now,” he continued, “if you find yourself saying, ‘But that doesn’t seem like most of the people who are described as pronatalist in the media; they seem kind of like weirdos,’ that’s because people think that there should be more babies for lots of different reasons — and they see the problem of low fertility as being a problem for lots of different reasons.”
Continued below.
Pronatalism: Beyond the buzz, some proponents just think it would be nice to have more babies
Pronatalism spans family values, economic concerns and ethical dilemmas, revealing how declining birth rates are reshaping society.
www.oursundayvisitor.com
