What is the Answer to the Birth Dearth?

The Surprising Solution to the Birth Dearth

In previous videos I have argued that the declining birth rate is the preeminent crisis facing mankind. Forty years ago when I was a professor at the University of Colorado all intellectuals could talk about was over-population. It was nonsense then and it is nonsense now. The big problem we face today is the opposite of over-population—it is aging and declining population.

I believe there is only one solution to this problem. It is a spiritual problem and will require a spiritual solution. But before I get to that let’s take a look at what is being tried. And remember—nothing, so far, has worked.

What is currently being tried?

Some have called for less smart phone use since the gadgets have been blamed for the decline.

The New York Times called for less commuting and more at home work since if people are at home more they are more likely to make babies.

Some argue that women are not having more children because they can’t afford them. So steps need to be taken for them to make more money and therefore be able to have more children. 

Some have suggested that women are not having children because it is such hard work. So the solution? Supply women with robot nannies and they will have more children.

South Korea’s second largest city of Busan offers singles $340 to spend on dates. Those who get married receive roughly $14,000 upfront and are feted with housing subsidies and more cash to cover pregnancy-related expenses and international travel. So far no one has claimed the prize for marriage. 

Let me repeat. None of this has worked anywhere it has been tried.

So what’s the solution? Religious revival! Every demographer knows that the one thing all big families have in common is faith. In America this includes the small number of believing Catholics and a number of Mormons. But the biggest group by far is Protestant Evangelicals. In other words, Bible believing Christians. We outnumber Catholics two to one and Mormons 15 to one. So the people of God who believe and follow the Bible are the answer. And revival creates more of the people of God.

I have nine children. I had an anti-population zealot at the university challenge me and ask, “Mitchell, why do you have so many kids?” And my answer, “So there will be someone to take care of you when you go to a rest home.” Ironically, one of my daughters spent quite a bit of time working in a rest home.

I have argued elsewhere that there is one major reason people do not have more children—selfishness. They just don’t want their pursuit of pleasure to be encumbered by kids. And Jesus Christ is the solution to selfishness. He gives you a heart for other people—including children.

There are some other steps that need to be taken.

One writer observed, “False ideologies have to be countered and defeated. The gigantic anti-human lies have to be countered. The rise of ideologies that devalue traditional marriage and family and corresponding policies that undermine the sanctity of life are…rooted in the belief that there are just too many people on the planet.”

I have been challenging the overpopulation lie for forty years and we need to continue to do so.

Earlier marriage and child-bearing need to be encouraged. Of course, those need to be traditional marriages since those are the ones that produce children.

We need to attack the abortion industry, and it’s underlying feminist ideology.

Our churches need to continue to be the answer to this problem as they already are. The Christian church is the most pro-child, pro-family venue that exists anywhere in the world. My responsibilities as a pastor of pastors takes me to many different churches and I am thrilled to see the large number of children in our fellowships. Having children is encouraged there and in fact it’s about the only place it is.

As Dillon Burroughs said in the Christian Post: In contrast to the detrimental effects of population decline and the ideologies that promote it, a Christian worldview affirms the intrinsic value of life, the sanctity of marriage, and the importance of the traditional family.

We need to heed the wisdom of Mary Eberstadt: “Family creation, many insist, is not all that important yet other forms of investment in the future are deemed mandatory. About health, everyone agrees that society and one’s 80-year-old self will thank one’s 30-year-old self for quitting smoking or eating right. But almost no one applies that logic to other forms of self-sacrifice made for the future well-being of society and self—like marriage and children.” I have never smoked nor drank and I assure you my 80 year old self is thankful for that. But I am even more thankful that my younger self raised a bunch of kids. What joy that gives me as I approach the end of my life.



The birth dearth is a spiritual issue. And the answer is spiritual. People need to place their faith in Jesus Christ, obey Him and trust Him for the future. That will fix the birth problem and everything else.

 

More: “The Collapse of the Birth Rate: Why Have Rich People Stopped Having Children?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhI4hV-nZyk

“The Blessings of Raising a Large Family;” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rmq8_LEBps

Mads Larsen: Research clearly indicates that many women would like to have more children than they actually do, suggesting that societal structures, rather than personal choice, are limiting reproduction. If a woman’s future is materially secure, so she can have all the goods and services that she needs throughout her life, and she can also have all the robot nannies she needs to help her with the children, I think we can enter into a golden era of reproduction. But we have to create that reality.

Norway has the most generous paid leave programs in the world for people who want to have children. Critics of the plan say it’s merely the state’s way of forcing women to go to work. It tethers them to their jobs. The state provides no help or incentives for women who want to stay home permanently and full time with their children. What’s the result. Norway’s birth rate has cratered. It is way below replacement rate.

Above all, a revival of faith is critical. All the data shows that religious families are far more likely to bear children, because they grasp the essential goodness of humanity and that there is more to life than personal pleasure. Thankfully, as the recent Pew survey suggested, the long decline of faith may not be predestined to continue; cultural trendlines can actually go up as well as down. Is it too much to hope that the trendlines toward demographic winter may yet be reversed as well? (Brad Littlejohn)

South Korea offering 14,000: https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/relationships/singles-dating-marriage-fertility-birthrate-south-korea-bdb40c7b?mod=relationships_news_article_pos1&mkt_tok=NzEwLVFSUi0yMDkAAAGZjWozXVgx4JssDvNHFi562xkhr_HhB3QPTsiaBaBIB8OkgUli49jkJszJRCLrtTcu9bY5AAzPMOTfBfwUHbGP1ajJEeK_eSXMqQR_wXvK6W9oQg

Norway: https://thefederalist.com/2025/05/01/norway-proves-paid-leave-wont-make-families-bigger-or-

Why there is still hope: https://www.christianpost.com/voices/americas-looming-population-crisis-and-why-theres-still-hope.html?utm_source=Daily&utm_campaign=Daily&utm_medium=newsletter

From a biblical perspective, the family is the cornerstone of society. Scripture underscores the sanctity of life and the significance of procreation within the confines of marriage.

The Catholic solution: https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/the-solution-to-the-global-fertility-crisis?utm_source=Crisis+Magazine&utm_campaign=7011311223-Crisis_DAILYRSS_EMAIL&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a5a13625fd-7011311223-28475396&mc_cid=7011311223&mc_eid=a40cb5b88c

John Stonestreet: https://www.christianpost.com/voices/americans-still-want-children.html?utm_source=Daily&utm_campaign=Daily&utm_medium=newsletter

Tokyo tries a 4 day week: https://www.ibtimes.com/tokyo-adopts-4-day-workweek-encourage-women-have-more-kids-3754389?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Dating app: https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/07/asia/japan-birth-rate-population-dating-app-intl-hnk/index.html?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Changing government programs: https://thefederalist.com/2024/12/02/heres-how-to-actually-reverse-the-baby-bust/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=heres-how-to-actually-reverse-the-baby-bust&utm_term=2024-12-02

Ukraine: https://thespectator.com/topic/ukrainians-revive-birth-rate-death/?utm_source=Spectator%20World%20Signup&utm_campaign=50d01fe61c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_04_02_07_43&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-50d01fe61c-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

Catherine Pakaluk: https://www.city-journal.org/article/qa-with-catherine-pakaluk-author-of-hannahs-children-the-women-quietly-defying-the-birth-dearth

The government is the problem: https://www.heritage.org/education/report/education-policy-reforms-are-key-strategies-increasing-the-married-birth-rate

The Spectator: The crisis is here; https://thespectator.com/topic/global-fertility-crisis-already-here/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Countries from France to South Korea have introduced policies such as extended parental leaves and generous child tax credits. These have had limited success in reversing the decline. Raising a child is an eighteen-year commitment; extending parental leave from two to six months offers marginal relief. Ditto tax relief schemes.

Societal support could include making it easier for the young to marry. Safer streets would allow children to spend more time unsupervised and travel to school on their own, easing the burden on parents. School holidays could be organized in ways that don’t disrupt parents’ work.

Creating the conditions for large families to flourish is the only way to reverse the trend in fertility rates. If we fail to do so, then the coming demographic winter will be far harsher than anyone cares to admit.

Fertility rates have fallen faster in large metropolitan areas than in rural areas, probably because of housing costs.

Our societal structures have also become deeply unwelcoming to large families. Child car seats are a good example. In the UK, children must use a child car seat until they’re twelve. There’s evidence this lowers birth rates as it makes it harder to fit more than two children in a car. When I was young my parents put four of us in the back seat. This isn’t to argue for repealing car-seat regulations, but it’s an instance of government policies having unintended consequences.

Nothing needs to be done: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/birth-rates-keep-falling-we-need-to-confront-reality/ar-AA22qxS8

Conservatives have more children: https://thefederalist.com/2026/05/21/stop-blaming-conservatives-for-the-lefts-baby-bust/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=stop-blaming-conservatives-for-the-lefts-baby-bust&utm_term=2026-05-21

Christians, conservatives, some Republicans, are creating a culture wherein children and family are granted high status: https://www.wsj.com/opinion/free-expression/maga-women-defy-the-birth-dearth-02549ce7?mod=article_inline

Anna Sussman in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/opinion/birthrate-kids-parents-demographics-future.html?searchResultPosition=4

There is, however, one low-cost fertility policy that actually seems to work: faith, perhaps the original uncertainty reduction strategy.