Natalism

Template:Original research 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 pro-birth, and aimed at increasing a country's population. The term is taken from the Latin adjective form for "birth", natalis.

Pronatalism is an attitude or an ideology promoting child-bearing. With emergent sub-replacement fertility and a corresponding demographic transition well underway in Europe and Japan leading toward smaller, older populations, some governments implement interventionist policies, incentivising larger families.

Another government that openly advocated a natalist attitude was 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 "make up" for the lost people to the war. As a result of this pro-natal attitude, Iran has experienced a youth bulge, with approximately 75% of its population under the age of 30 as of 2007.

In a New York Times editorial, in 2004, commentator 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)
• Childbirth
• Sub-replacement fertility#The American exception
• Phillip Longman (author of The Empty Cradle: How Falling Birthrates Threaten World Prosperity)
• Population decline#National efforts to reverse declining populations
• PopulationTemplate:Polisci-stub