Archive Report
Archive Report
Rising U.S. Infant Visibility
Childbearing by Postwar Baby Boomers
Babies are staging a comeback on the American scene these days. They have always been around, of course, but in the past two decades they have suffered from a certain obscurity. The postwar baby boom faded into the youth culture of the 1960s, followed by the singles society of the 1970s. But infant visibility again is rising, suggesting that another baby boom may be in the making. Though the statistical evidence is scant and tentative, the subject of childbearing is gaining attention. “Suddenly, having babies is back in fashion,” Naomi Munson noted recently in Commentary magazine.1 The news media aside, many people, using the evidence under their eyes, believe a second baby boom is under way. “Everyone ...