Wanting Children: Family-Planning Policies and the Engineering of America's Population

This talk is based on my recently published book, Wanting Children: Family-Planning Policies and the Engineering of America's Population (University of Chicago Press). Unlike most of the world, U.S. family-planning policy has focused almost exclusively on limiting fertility, with little attention to supporting people who want to have children. I trace the historical and political roots of this asymmetry and argue for a more balanced approach to population policy - one that takes seriously the needs of those who want to become parents. Drawing on population research, I'll discuss what a more supportive fertility policy should look like and why it matters for the future of the American population.