Get married and have kids, you won’t regret it

OPINION:

Other than MAGA, the pro-life movement is the most dynamic force on the right. Now it’s moving beyond opposition to abortion to confront the issue on which the fate of civilization could hinge: the crisis of rapidly falling fertility.

Although its primary focus is still on ending abortion, the movement has broadened its perspective. On Jan. 23, tens of thousands of eager young activists took part in the 53rd annual March for Life in Washington. One of the more memorable signs marchers carried urged: “Get married and have kids. You won’t regret it!”

A generation ago, that message would not have been controversial. Marriage and family were a natural part of life. They marked you as an adult. Today, matrimony and childbearing are almost revolutionary acts.

During the baby boom years, the average American woman had 3 children, well above the replacement fertility rate of 2.1. Today, our total fertility rate (the number of children the average woman will have in her lifetime) is a dismal 1.62 and falling. Soon, our population will begin to decline.

It’s worse in most other parts of the developed world. The total fertility rate is 1.35 in Germany, 1.2 in Italy and 1.0 in China. In France last year, the number of deaths exceeded the number of births. The French fertility rate is at its lowest since the end of World War I.

The fall of fertility is driven by the decline of marriage. In the United States, in 1970, 71% of households consisted of married couples. By 2022, that figure had plummeted to 47%.

In 2024, for the first time in our history, a majority of women ages 18 to 44 weren’t married, twice the number of the early 1980s.

For our survival as a species, society must start pushing marriage and procreation — hard and fast.

We live in an age when many young men would rather stay at home playing video games than go out and socialize. Women are terrified of losing their independence by having a man in their lives. Both think children will compromise their independence.

They need a wake-up call from reality. They will regret it if they go into their 40s isolated and alone. They can work 60-hour weeks, adopt a “fur baby,” throw themselves into a cause. (Attacking federal agents?) Then what?

Having a family may not be joy unbounded, but it beats loneliness, which often turns to bitterness and hopelessness.

The message of that pro-life sign isn’t complete. It should be “Go to church or synagogue, get married and have kids.” Religion is an indispensable support for family life. Look at who’s having large families, not those obsessed with global warming or “institutional racism.”

The Clintons have one child. The Obamas have two. They not only support Planned Parenthood but also practice it.

President Trump and his Cabinet could populate a medium-size country between them. Surveys cited in The Wall Street Journal show conservative women are far more likely to have children than their counterparts on the left.

Fecundity and faith go hand and hand. Hasidic Jews, serious Catholics and evangelical Christians are the seed bearers of the future. On average, Amish families have seven children, doubling their numbers every 20 to 30 years.

If you would like to see where collapsing fertility is taking us, you don’t need a crystal ball. All over the country, schools are being turned into senior centers. Adult diapers are outselling baby products.

Soon, there will be a shortage of the workers who keep society functioning: teachers, medical personnel, farmers, factory workers and first responders. Now you know why your 911 call isn’t being answered.

There is still hope. You can see it in the smiling faces of those pro-life marchers.

It’s also found in the land that gave birth to the idea of hope 3,000 years ago — a land where men once walked who talked about hope and God’s love for humanity.

A writer for the children’s advocacy group Them Before Us recently returned from a trip to Israel. He said that after 15 months of unremitting warfare, he expected to find a shell-shocked nation. Instead, he saw playgrounds and strollers everywhere.

Israel’s fertility rate is 2.9, more than double the average for the developed world. An Israeli father told him: “We have grown out of the desert and we are making beautiful things.”

The writer responded: “That’s not denial. That’s hope. And hope, it turns out, is fertile.”

• Don Feder is a columnist with The Washington Times.