THE POPULATION PROBLEM
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Mr. D. V. Glass in his interesting article ascribes the fall in the birth-rate to two main factors operating in the last sixty years. " First the State and other institutions have taken away many of the family's functions," and secondly, " education has taught people to aim at a higher standard of life."
Presumably Mr. Glass refers to functions relating to the health and welfare of children. But has any real degree of responsibility in these matters been removed from, parents ? The State now provides opportunities for the discharge ,of these functions, but the obligation to see that the children enjoy these opportunities still remains with the parents, and Magistrates, Coroners, Local Authorities, and numerous Welfare Societies look very sharply after those who neglect their duties. Both law and public opinion demand far more from parents now than they did in the not far distant days when the parents' chief ambition was to get a child working in the field or factory at the earliest possible age, or when infant insurance could carry a very sinister significance.
As regards standard of life, did not the fall in the birth- rate begin in the wealthiest classes, and has it, not gone further with them than in any other social division ? Was not the standard of life far lower in earlier centuries, when nevertheless all classes were prolific ; and has not the fall today been greatest in those countries where the standard of life is highest ?
I submit that it is increased parental responsibility, together with a diminished capacity for bearing responsibility, which have been the main causes of the fall in the birth-rate.—
Yours faithfully, WIT.T.TAM A. BREND. 14 Bolingbroke Grove, S.W.11.
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