Wanted: More Moms!

Does A Pastor Have Anything to Say About Birthrates?

Mother’s Day in 1960 was on May 8. The next day, May 9, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first oral contraceptive. On May 10, I was born. I barely made it!

Not surprisingly, the birthrates in America began to decline in 1960 and the decline hasn’t stopped. The fertility rate in the United States has fallen to historic lows. In 1960, the fertility rate in the U.S was 3.5 children per woman. By 2020, the fertility rate had fallen to 1.78 children per woman, below the replacement level of 2.1 required to keep a population constant. By 2023, it declined to the lowest level in our history. In other words, as a nation we are not having enough babies to replace our aging population.

What are the implications?

At first glance, this might seem like good news to some. Less people means more space and resources for the rest of us, right? Not necessarily.

Less people means less customers to buy your product. Less teachers to teach your kids. Less workers to pay taxes that finance our infrastructure. Less doctors to perform your surgeries. Less people in the work force to hire to keep your business going. Less people to work in the assisted living facility you’ll need someday. Less people to pay into Social Security and keep the whole thing afloat. In 1960, there were six people of working age for every retired person. Today, it’s closer to 3 to 1 and “by 2035, it’s expected to be two-to-one.” You do the math.

The economic engine of the United States requires a constant renewable supply of civilized, socialized, virtuous, industrious, and educated citizens. In fact, whatever you think of immigration, legal or illegal, it’s largely driven by the decision of millions of American women to avoid motherhood. We’re not making our own workers, so we have to import them from other countries to keep the economy growing.

What Are the Causes?

There are many reasons the birthrate is falling. The advent of the pill, the decline of the marriage rate, the rise of women in the workforce and professional careers, and the legitimization of abortion, are a few obvious contributors.

But the bottom line is this: motherhood is hard and it’s human nature to avoid hard things if we don’t see the benefits.

A woman must give up a lot to have a baby. Physically, her body is taxed during the pregnancy and nursing as she shares her carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, and immunities with this little life made in the image of God. Emotionally, children are helpless, needy, demanding, and notoriously inconsiderate of a mother’s schedule. Financially, children are expensive, costing on average $375,000 until the age of 18, and then there’s college. Relationally, married couples with children report lower marital satisfaction than childless couples. That makes sense. Childless couples have more time and money for travel, play, and self-care.

Not every childless woman wants to be. But single godly women know that childlessness is their calling for now. They want to be married but aren’t, largely because of the shrinking pool of marriageable men. Not every childless couple wants to be. Many married couples want children but for medical reasons, are sadly unable to have children. But the global birthrate crisis is not due to infertility issues. It’s due to a series of decisions based on a cost-benefits analysis. For many married couples the cost of having children simply outweighs the benefits.

Short-Term Thinking with Long-Term Implications

But I fear that many in this generation are being shortsighted. They’re not thinking about what will happen to our nation in the coming years. What will happen to American culture, traditions, and values if our citizens are not raising enough children to love this country, defend our borders, cherish the Constitution, build our economy, and appreciate our history? Becoming a mom might be one of the most patriotic things you can do!

And what will happen to the church? We have the treasure of the gospel and Christians for centuries have advanced that gospel to the ends of the earth through their children and their children’s children. As they raise up godly offspring in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, Christian parents make disciples who make disciples. But what if Christian parents choose the ease of childless marriage over the hard work of raising up the next generation of Christians?

Ryan Burge argues that “the best indicator of the future size of a religion is not the number of missionaries it sends, but how many children are in the pews.” If he’s right, this is not an argument for less missionaries, but an argument for more children, and thus, more moms in the church. (There’s a lot more to say about a Biblical worldview and birthrates so if you’d like to read more about it, try here, here, here, and here.)

And what will happen to all the child-free couples as they age? Sure, you can find research on the internet that says childless couples are happier in their younger years. That’s not exactly a shocker. Having and raising kids is just hard. But you can also find research on the internet that says couples with children are happier as they get older. When their own children become adults, those children are often a source of great joy and emotional support. And when their children have children, grandchildren tend to make older parents happy.

Now for a gratuitous photograph of my granddaughter who graduated from kindergarten this week. Note our joy.

Also note that the beautiful woman in that photograph both enjoyed and endured motherhood. It was one of the most delightful, dangerous, and difficult things she has ever done. She has zero regrets.

Honor Your Father and Mother

In later years when the minds and bodies of childless couples begin to fail them and they need help to do the most basic things, nothing replaces having a loving family around.

Like many of you, I know what it’s like to care for aging parents, to experience the reversal of role, and sometimes cash flow. I cannot imagine how either of my parents could have done for themselves, what I, my wife, and my sisters have done for them in their later years according to Scripture’s command to “honor your father and mother.” Childless couples will depend solely on government institutions, which require money that is raised through taxes paid by….whom? The children of women who chose to be mothers.

And those facilities that care for the aged are staffed with thousands of skilled and compassionate people (like those caring for my dad right now) because decades ago thousands of women made the decision to become their mothers.

In three days we’ll celebrate the women who made the patriotic, spiritual, and personal decision to look past the costs to the benefits of making the sacrifice to be a mom. Happy Mother’s Day and may your numbers increase!

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention