Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance found himself in trouble when he said that our nation was being run by

“a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable with their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.”

That was likely not the most gentlemanly thing to say.

He then piled it on this way:

“It’s just a basic fact…the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. And how does it make any sense that we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?”

Ouch.

Interestingly, about the same time as Vance spoke out on this, the Wall Street Journal offered up this editorial: “Why Americans aren’t having Babies.”

In case you had not heard,

“Childlessness may be emerging as the main driver of the country’s record-low birthrate.”

The trend is showing a steady decline not only in the U.S., but in numerous countries around the world.

The Economist portrayed it this way:

“Before the end of this century…the number of people on the planet could shrink for the first time since the Black Death. The root cause is not a surge in deaths, but a slump in births.”

And let’s be honest, it’s not that American women aren’t getting pregnant—though a fair share may opt for that decision. Thousands upon thousands upon thousands choose to dispose of their babies via abortion.

Stepping back a few years, the New York Times outlined the purported reasons for declining childbirths in their 2018 article, “Americans Are Having Fewer Babies. They Told Us Why.” 

One thing is most obviously true. Americans have not forgotten HOW babies are made! Thus the progressive battlecry for “reproductive rights.”

Noting a trend around 2018, some researchers blamed a declining fertility rate on a financial recession. However, it kept falling as the economy recovered. The Times chose to do their own research and here’s what they discovered.

The top answers from young adults as to why “no kids” were: people simply wanted more leisure time and personal freedom. Others had not found a “partner” yet. Some were worried they were unable to afford child-care costs. Yep. No going forth to multiply from this group.

Here we are six years later. Has anything changed? A summary statement from the Wall Street Journal article explains,

“The costs and rising expectations of parenthood are making young people think hard about having any children at all.” 

As we’ve seen, many in the younger demographics have been marrying later in life. Also delaying having children. Then, well, it gets complicated.

The WSJ cites the perspective of a 42-year-old woman, Beth Davis. Beth seems to epitomize some millennials’ new views. She says,

“I wouldn’t mess up the dynamic in my life right now for anything, especially someone that is 100% dependent on me.”  

I don’t have empirical research at my fingertips on this, but I can name a few people groups who seem to reproduce without these modern concerns. That includes Catholic families. Muslim families. Hispanic families. And probably a good number of home school families.

I’m pretty sure the stats will bear this out. Children are not burdensome intrusions.

Nor should they be. The Contemporary English Version of the Bible translates Psalm 127: 3-5 this way:

“Children are a blessing and a gift from the Lord. Having a lot of children to take care of you in your old age is like a warrior with a lot of arrows. The more you have, the better off you will be, because they will protect you when your enemies attack you in court.”

(And who doesn’t need help when THAT happens?!)

Other translations use the term having a “quiver full of them.” (i.e. NIV) Rhonda and I put up boundaries and wound up with three children. As we matured in our faith, we would have chosen not to set those boundaries. We love our children. And our grandchildren. A little late to add more now.

If you are a couple of child-bearing age, keep your heart open to being blessed with precious little ones.

Our future as a nation does not look brighter if we are cutting back on kids.