Reading Our Times What are children for? In conversation with Anastasia Berg
Jul 15, 2025
Anastasia Berg, co-author of "What Are Children For?" and a researcher on parenthood, dives into the shifting perceptions of fertility in Western societies. She discusses how attitudes toward children have transformed and challenges the notion that children were merely economic security in the past. Anastasia explores why many delay or avoid parenthood, touching on cultural expectations, risk aversion, and climate anxiety. She also contemplates the profound impact of children on human flourishing, advocating for a broader understanding of their societal role.
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Global Fertility Is Below Replacement
- Two thirds of people live in countries with below-replacement fertility today.
- Demographers predict global population decline will begin mid-century and accelerate thereafter.
Parenthood Became An Optional Project
- The novelty is not only birth control but a transformed self-conception around parenthood.
- People now treat having children as one elective project among many to be evaluated.
Welfare Alone Doesn’t Restore Birthrates
- Material supports (Nordic welfare) don't fully explain low fertility.
- Policy removes obstacles but often fails to reverse declining birth rates.
