“In good times, we reproduce. In bad times, we don’t.”
This quote, from a recent Associated Press article, sums up new findings of a record-setting number of births that took place in the U.S. during 2007, even exceeding the post World War II baby boom.
These babies were mostly conceived in 2006, when times were “good.”
According to Associate Professor of Sociology at Lewis, Tennille Allen, many effects came out of the postwar baby boom, such as the rise of the middle class in the U.S. However, the traditional nuclear family that was developed from this time, “only existed for this briefest period of time,” Allen said.
Not only did the most births take place in 2007, 40 percent of these births were to single mothers-another record-setting statistic. In addition, these births are not from the individuals who many typically think of. Rather, “more than three-quarter of these women were 20 or older,” stated the article.
Allen explained that stories such as “Juno” are not the norm. Rather, people are choosing to get married later. Consequently, women have a limited window to reproduce. This “window” starts to decline after the age of 30.
Also, Allen pointed out, “While people are delaying marriage, they’re not delaying childbirth.” She noted that there is now more female independence and the common thought that a woman can solely support a child herself.
Dr. Tracey Nicholls, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Co-Director of the Womens’ Studies Program, agreed. “They might be thinking this might be my last chance (to have a baby),” Nicholls said.
“Norms are just changing,” Allen stated. With this comes a growing diversity of families as well. More LGBT and single parent households are now present. The cohabitation rate is also up. “Just because people aren’t married doesn’t mean they aren’t’ partnered up,” said Allen.
Nicholls called this a “loosening of social constraints.” “They can fit their families to their lifestyles and to their demands,” she said.
How did society get to the point of acceptance to the unwed?
Nicholls believes that it took place with the societal change in the 1960s. Before this time, if a woman became pregnant and her family disapproved, she had to give the baby up. Now with social welfare benefits, it is easier for women to make their own choices on the matter.
“Society has more of a sense of taking care of each other,” Nicholls said.
What does the future hold with a declining economy and growing diversity in family life? According to Allen, “Families have been diverse, and we will see more diversity.”
Nicholls agreed, “I don’t think we’re ever going to go back to [where] there has to be a nuclear family.”
In reference to the economy, Dr. Carol Hogue of Emory University stated, “I expect they’ll (birth rates) go back down. The lowest birth rates recorded in the United States occurred during the Great Depression, and that was before modern contraception.”
Nicholls also predicts that issues involving how much control people have over their own birth experiences might become an issue in the future. This would include the right to refuse a doctor’s order for a Cesarean section. She also looks for a rise in more natural births.
In addition, Nicholls wonders if moral questions would arise over sperm banks and artificial insemination. The whole question of what point do parental rights get extinguished would be questioned.
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