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August 20, 2024By Fr. John Arnold, St. Mark the Evangelist Parish, Oro ValleyA parish mom approached the supermarket cashier with a grocery cart and her five exceptional children in tow. The cashier looked at the kids and then mom and said, “Done now?” Less than 5% of the families in the United States have 5 or more children.Dr. Catherine Pakaluk, Ph.D., a Harvard trained economist, Director of Social Research and Associate Professor at Catholic University’s Busch School of Business and a Catholic mother of eight, wrote Hannah's Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth. Her a book is a qualitative study of woman who choose to have between 5 and 12 children. From 1800 and 1900, the total fertility rate of American women halved from 7 to 3.5. During the World Wars, birth rates declined further, but rebounded after the Second World War when my parents, both veterans, had their family. That rebound, however, halved again between 1960 and 2000, from 3.5 to 2.0 children per family. Not altogether surprisingly, our country is experiencing its lowest-ever total fertility rate. In 2020, there were 1.64 lifetime expected births per woman. Many economists opine that the decline in fertility from the 19th century to the 20th century was the result of an economic shift away from agricultural and home-based work to non-home-based work, which rendered children a net cost to the household. My mom grew up on a farm, but none of her eight children did.The so called ‘birth dearth’ has been receiving a lot of coverage from the secular press like the Wall Street Journal, lately. The effect of a steep decline in population by the end of this century has resulted in some legitimate concern and much hand wringing because of its implications for the world economy. Young people are putting off marriage and child rearing for varied reasons, some involuntarily. Abortion, pornography, and birth control have fueled the sexual revolution and a sharp decline in traditional values. For those who have better hopes of marriage and family, it can be difficult for them to acknowledge their concerns, vulnerability, and fears. Some acknowledge feeling, at least from time to time, left behind. Choices, for some at least, are delayed by a culture that emphasizes intimacy on the cheap, and accomplishment and production more than marriage and family. Having it all is a problematic life goal, especially for woman of childbearing age.Dr. Pakaluk’s study focused on women with college degrees who made difficult choices between career and family. One woman left her course of study in the middle of her medical residency to begin her family. She didn’t regret it. Another worked hard to obtain her Ph.D. and then left academia to raise a large family. Dr. Pakaluk, remembered that none of the senior women faculty at Harvard’s economics department had children when she was taking classes in the late nineties. Across the profession, about 40 percent of female faculty are married with children within 12 years of completing their Ph.D. compared to 70 percent of males who have a doctorate and are married with families. Although women make up almost half of the tenure-track faculty in the United States, only 40 percent obtain tenure and fewer, one third, become full professors. The path forward is even more challenging for single moms and dads with a high school degree.How many of our young people will grow up in a household with no memory of a baby, smelly diapers, breastfeeding, or a younger sibling who is a pain in the cómo se llama? It is one thing to, as a matter of political commitment, to believe in the right to life. Being pro-life requires some more extensive life choices. Clearly, something is wrong in our culture that once argued whether African slaves or indigenous people were fully human. That the argument has carried over to the child in the womb, ought not to be so surprising. We fight the good fight when we take the side of defenseless children, children born with disabilities and single parents. The moniker ‘pro-life’ ought to mean more, however, than an ideology, political position, or following the culture hoping not to attract the attention of supermarket cashiers. It should be reflected in or families and our life choices.Every marriage decides how many children to bear. In a culture where smaller families are the norm, however, it is worth asking why others make a different decision. Why do some not follow the norm? Dr. Pakaluk’s quantitative study of woman who had 5 to 12 children involved subjects who were Catholic, fundamentalist Christians, secularist, Jews, and pretty much the spectrum of American woman. One Catholic mom of six, Maggie, spoke about how compassion emerges out of husband, wife, and children in a larger family:“One of the things that actually our parish priest pointed out, is one day we were picking kids up from school, and my oldest son grabbed the baby and was just walking around with the baby, and our priest said, ‘Look at that! Look at him! That’s what we want.’ That’s what we want around here, is big brothers knowing how to carry a baby and being proud of introducing his younger sister to his friends, and basically just young kids appreciating that young life, or that family life… And for me, it wasn’t a big deal. He carries the baby all the time. He changes her diapers. He puts her down for a nap. That’s just kind of a way of life.”A mother of 12 describes how her seventh baby had special needs. He couldn’t flip himself over. So, she instructed his older siblings that whenever they passed by his crib they were to flip him over. Soon neighborhood kids were showing up for the privilege. When did number seven finally flip himself and crawl? She explains,“Then I got pregnant with number eight. And I remember people slandering me for getting pregnant again, because they figured, ‘You have a special needs child, why would you have another child after him?’ And that was a big one, because I remember thinking, ‘I don’t think God would have given me this trial, if there wasn’t a purpose.’ And when she was born, because of her, he learned how to crawl. Number seven learned how to crawl because of number eight. Because he wanted to get to that baby that was crying on the other side. So he actually would move. And people were astounded, because he never moved. He never made a sound. He couldn’t speak yet. Nothing. And because of her, he wanted to eat. He never put anything in his mouth, but she was eating, so he learned how to eat.”The right to life is a critical prophetic stance in our time in a culture where most Americans support abortion rights, at least at some level. Being ‘pro-life’ is something best expressed in our families, of whatever size when compassion and care for the other is clearly taught.
Cashiers of America beware! The real rebels in America travel in groups of five or more. If you’d like to take a deep dive into Christianity and learn more about our faith, you can contact St. Mark the Evangelist Parish at 520-469-7835 and request a meeting with pastor, Fr. John Arnold.
Pakaluk, Catherine. Hannah's Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth (pp. 313-314). Skyhorse Publishing. Kindle Edition.