The best arguments for having children, unfortunately, run opposed to modern, secular American culture

From When Babies Disappear by Heather Wilhelm.

Wilhelm is at the same conclusion that I have reached, though probably via a different route. The measure of the success of a civilization is its survival and continuity. Civilizational trends are a function of productivity and productivity in turn is a function of culture (values, behaviors, knowledge, skills, decision-making, etc.). Those countries whose cultural attributes fail to support reproduction are inherently of no further interest in historical terms. While they may have succeeded in aspects of productivity, they have failed in terms of continuity. I share the suspicion that civilizational fertility is a function of religious belief systems rather than some sort of calculus of costs and benefits.

Wilhelm's concluding observations.

The best arguments for having children, unfortunately, run opposed to modern, secular American culture. Good reasons to have kids tend to be about delayed gratification, prioritizing family, putting others first, transmitting serious values and beliefs, focusing on something larger than yourself, and understanding the difference between joy and fun. Perhaps this is why, as Last notes, "American pets now outnumber American children by more than four to one." It's also why, if American fertility continues to slide -- and, as the author notes, that's still an "if" at this point -- there's little the government can do.

What to Expect When No One's Expecting discusses potential policy solutions to the global fertility drought. Many are vague, and few are convincing. When it comes to pro-natalist government policy, welfare-state support for parents seems to work a bit; outright bribery, as recently attempted in Singapore, does not. But the main driver of faltering global fertility -- and the reason Last's book is so interesting -- is based on culture, not policy.

The good news is that culture can be engaged and changed. The bad news is that change can be plodding. America still has time to adjust its priorities in terms of marriage, community, and family. Other countries, having already jumped off the fertility cliff, may not have that luxury.