Population Research and Policy Review (PRPR) provides a broad, interdisciplinary coverage of population research, and offers an up to date and solid basis of information on the policy...
Call for Papers
Low and declining birth rates across the world have consequences for countries’ population size and structure. Concerns over the potential economic effects of population aging have spurred many countries to engage in efforts to raise birth rates. At the same time, there is growing concern about the social and cultural causes and consequences of low birth rates. Pronatalism – an ideology based on the belief that birth rates are too low, and societies should work to raise them in the interest of economic productivity and cultural preservation – has re-emerged as an increasingly visible and powerful force across different settings. The dynamics of low fertility – such as fertility decline, postponement, and changing patterns of family formation – have been common topics in population science over the last 25 years, but pronatalism has received considerably less attention from the field.
This Special Issue will provide an opportunity for population scientists to contribute to the conversations about pronatalism throughout the world. We welcome critical, theoretical, descriptive, and empirical submissions that explicitly focus on some aspect of pronatalism. Further research is needed on the evidentiary base upon which pronatalism rests; the social, political, and cultural inspirations and implications of pronatalism; and the support for, and effects of, pronatalist policies. Evaluation of alternative approaches (besides raising birth rates) for addressing changes in population size and composition is also warranted. Submissions that discuss the causes and consequences of low fertility but do not directly engage with pronatalism fall outside of the scope of this issue.
Submit your manuscript to this collection through the participating journal.
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Karen Benjamin Guzzo
Karen Benjamin Guzzo, PhD is a Professor of Sociology and Director of the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a family sociologist and demographer whose work focuses on childbearing goals and behaviors in the U.S. She is a Deputy Editor of Demography and on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Marriage and Family, Family Theory and Review, and Family Transitions.
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Sarah R. Hayford
Sarah R. Hayford, PhD is a Professor is a of Sociology and Director of the Institute for Population Research at Ohio State University. Her research focuses on childbearing goals and behaviors in both low- and high-fertility contexts. She has served as Associate Editor at Population Research and Policy Review; Deputy Editor of Demography; and Editorial Committee member of Population and Development Review.
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Leslie Root
Leslie Root, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Research in the Institute of Behavioral Science and Associate Director of the CU Population Center at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is a demographer whose research focuses on the effect of social forces on individuals' fertility over the life course.
