Natalism

Natalism is the belief that human reproduction is the basis for individual existence. At a concrete level, the word is often used to describe government policies that are aggressively and affirmatively pro-birth, intending to increase a country's population. The term is taken from the Latin adjective form for "birth," natalis.

Pronatalism or simply natalism is an ideology promoting child-bearing which may include limited access to abortion and contraception as well as financial and social incentives for the population, particularly natives without recent immigrant heritage, to reproduce. Natalistic policies range from mildly to severely oppressive of women's rights to self-determination, depending on how strictly they are structured and enforced.

China's one-child policy is an example of anti-natalism. Official anti-natalism also oppresses women, depending on how it is structured and enforced.

Emergent sub-replacement fertility and a corresponding demographic transition is thought to be well underway in Europe and Asia, leading toward smaller, older populations,. Some nations such as Japan and Thailand have implemented, or tried to implement, interventionist natalist policies, creating incentives for larger families among "native stock." Immigrants are generally not part of natalist policies.

Another government which has openly advocated natalism is the Islamic Republic of Iran, following a tremendous loss of their population to the Iran-Iraq War. The government encouraged married couples to produce as many children as possible to replace population lost to the war. As a result of this natalist attitude, Iran has experienced a youth bulge, with approximately 75% of its population under the age of 30 as of 2007.

In a 2004 New York Times editorial David Brooks expressed the opinion that the relatively high birthrate of the United States in comparison to Europe could be attributed to social groups with "natalist" attitudes. The article is referred to in an analysis of the Quiverfull movement. However, the figures identified for the demographic are extremely low.

External links

• "Back to the Future: The Growing Movement of Natalism", CBN News

See also

• Breeder (slang)
• Cannon fodder
• Childbirth
• Eugenics
• Nationalist
• Nativist
• Phillip Longman (author of The Empty Cradle: How Falling Birthrates Threaten World Prosperity)
• Population
• Population decline#National efforts to reverse declining populations
• Sub-replacement fertility#The American exception