No Babies – Women’s or Men’s Fault?

The National Post of Feb 5 has an interesting article (subscription required) on a new book by Australian researcher Leslie Cannold who, in her “What, No Baby?”, argues that low birthrates in Western countries are driven mostly by the circumstances that women find themselves in. For example, Canada’s average birthrate is 1.5 children per woman, while Australia’s is 1.7. Europe’s is lower at 1.4, while the US has the highest fertility rate for industrial society at 2.1.

She argues that women don’t have babies out of choice so much as circumstances mean they have few options, especially once they hit 30 and they start thinking about having children, after having completed their schooling, started a career, and have done the sorts of things that under 30s generally do before “settling down.”

She recommends women marry “down,” just as men are more likely to marry someone younger or in a lower socio-economic group. For instance, a female professional might find a plumber more willing to have procreate than a fellow lawyer. I know very few professional women who are willing to consider this. As one I know said, “I never ever want to tell someone that my husband is not paying attention to me because he’s watching professional wrestling.” It seems the fertility crisis is affected by class as well as feminism.

At any rate, while the Post’s article makes her out to sound like a radical, I suspect her book is more balanced. Among her arguments is that a large number of men show less interest in having children: “Men of the same age can drift on in their extended adolescence for much longer.” This is a phenomenon that has been noted by commentators like Frank Furedi, Leon Kass, and even Plato.