Call Me Irresponsible: Birthrates, Families, and Culture

by Kimberly Ruff

Sitting in the lunchroom at work, chatting about Halloween costumes and the surprising popularity of a wig modeled after the notorious asymmetrical hairdo of Jon and Kate Plus Eight’s Kate Gosselin, one of my coworkers brought up the subject of another TLC show : The Duggars. Stars of another series depicting a family of unusual size entitled 18 Kids and Counting, The Duggars are the proud of parents of - you guessed it! - eighteen children. Frowning in disgust, my coworker remarked how having that many children is deeply irresponsible.

Is it?

No doubt, large families like the Duggars are not a common occurrence in our modern society. Scientific and medical breakthroughs that promote longevity and safely reduce the likelihood of pregnancy; an economic shift towards highly concentrated, urban life; social concerns about population control and reducing one’s carbon imprint; and, a cultural shift away from the home, have all paved the way to older parents and smaller families. This wasn’t always the case. In early American history, large families were the modus operandi. Let’s look at some of the factors that contributed to large families.

Cultural Factors

Finally, early American men were pigs. Not just in the literal “stewing-in-one’s juices” of poor hygiene way, but in the metaphoric “you’re-a-chauvinist-pig” way. That is to say that culturally, Early Americans functioned from a paradigm that kept the temperamental, irresolute chatterheads better known as “women” in their proper place. Thus, women stayed at home and were responsible for, among other things, caring for the children, having hot meals ready by five, and ordering unnecessary baubles from QVC with their husband’s credit cards. Beginning with the Suffrage Movement at the turn of the 20th Century and capping off with the Women’s Rights Movement of the 1960s, women gradually began moving out of the private sphere and into the public, showing they can do “men’s work” just as good – if not better – than their male counterparts. Who’s inferior now, boys?***** Men, turned off by the prevalence of women in slacks, stopped putting out and birthrates declined even further.

Times, They Are A-Changin’

Despite the fact that we no longer live in a time where large families are a duty, obligation, necessity, or wager, there is no legitimate reason why large families should be frowned upon.

In the case of the Duggar Family, they aren’t living on the government dole. Debt-free and financially self-sufficient, they live off their income from commercial property they own. True, they do get “assistance”, but the only “assistance” the family receives is in the form of voluntary corporate sponsorships. Deeply religious, the family home schools all their children and are perfectly capable of caring for each and every one of their large brood. In short, the Duggars are not demanding anyone subsidize, much less agree with, their lifestyle. So what’s the problem?

In truth, there really is none. At the turn of the 20th Century, many social scientists, fearful that a rapidly increasing population in a world of diminishing resources would ultimately lead to widespread disease, starvation, and a surprisingly large number of “social undesirables”, began to explore population control measures like eugenics (i.e. forced sterilization) and abortion (i.e. pregnancy termination). In fact, both resulted in favorable Supreme Court cases, the former in 1927’s Buck v. Bell and the latter in 1972’s Roe v. Wade. At the same time, physical scientists were experimenting with methods to improve the quality and abundance of the resources we consume, including food, power, and biomaterials. These efforts, on the other hand, have occasionally been curtailed (e.g. nuclear power) by our government. In spite of government’s best efforts to control humankind in an effort to save nature from itself, creative thinkers across the world are finding ways to improve and replenish it on a daily basis. In effect, there’s plenty to go around.

So while we may periodically scare ourselves silly worrying that the hoodlums that trampled our prized geraniums are eventually going to destroy our entire world, we really need to calm down and look at the situation logically. That is, as long as those same hoodlums don’t grow up to be politicians hell-bent on saving humanity by ruling it, we should be fine.

* God does not exist.

** I am not a mother, and even if I was, I wouldn’t name my child, “Hezekiah.” I would name them David or Anthony. Good, non-religious names. 

*** I do not advocate child labor. Not because it’s inhumane, but because as anyone who has ever asked a child to help with chores around the house knows, children can’t be trusted to do the job right. That’s why I always say, “if your horse won’t go, whip it.”****

**** Do not whip children.

***** (Ed. Note – the author has been paid $0.07 a word for this article. Our standard rate for articles is $0.10 a word.)