Falling fertility will bring its own set of problems. But that’s not the real reason it’s problematic. Falling fertility is the result of frail families and failing faith — in God, our future, and ourselves.

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From The Daily Wire:

The New York Times calls plunging birthrates “a good thing,” while New York Magazine highlights the stories of women who “regret having children.” If you looked at the mainstream media alone, you might think humans are looking forward to becoming an endangered species.

At the same time, however, there is a growing band of pronatalists who decry the coming consequences of a smaller, older population: safety-net programs will suffer, labor markets will contract, and elder care will face a shortage.

But these economic distortions aren’t the worst of it: Fewer people means fewer creators, lovers, and thinkers. In religious terms, there will be fewer image-bearers of God on this planet.

These are problems we should take seriously. But falling birthrates aren’t just a problem in themselves. They are downstream evidence of other, in some ways bigger, problems rooted in relationships, identity, and meaning. Family formation, faith, and fertility are all falling together.

While individual anecdotes — like those of teen motherhood can paint a different picture. Most women today delay marriage and motherhood not because they watched their parents wrestle with teen parenthood, but because they are struggling to find a mate, or they are simply following the cultural norm of later marriage.

Delayed marriage, for many, means delayed motherhood, which can often mean foregone motherhood. Even for those who successfully bear children later in their childbearing years, there is a price: higher-risk pregnancies, fewer children, and less intergenerational overlap with grandparents.

To suggest that women can simply cut and paste their fertility windows into later years is wrong.

While some people have always happily chosen the single life, recent years have seen an increase in people living alone, and usually not as an intentional choice.

We should all be asking what has changed to make life’s most basic and natural human relationships less desirable.

Many people derive a sense of meaning from their religious faith, and faith teaches about the blessing of children. As the United States has become more secular, our fertility rate has fallen.

Weekly church attendees still have the best mental health, the strongest sense of purpose, and the happiest marriages of any group. They also have the most children.

As Intercessors we are called to pray for families and faith across the nation. Why not share your prayers below?

(Excerpt from The Daily Wire. Photo Credit: Jessica Rockowitz/Unsplash)