This is a big one people don’t acknowledge. I think a big part of it is that we have also moved away from church (not a bad thing!)
When people talk about religious people having more kids, it’s not just quiverfull explanations! It’s that church people accept being around kids at social events. We (non church people) lost all of our childless friends within about two years of having a kid. The lifestyles were just incompatible and they weren’t ready to transition to daytime barbecues at the park. My church going sister? Kids are welcome at almost all of her social events, and she even attends women’s groups that have free childcare.
Obviously you can build that kind of community outside of church, but it’s not easy without the existing culture and infrastructure.
This is a big one people don’t acknowledge. I think a big part of it is that we have also moved away from church (not a bad thing!)
When people talk about religious people having more kids, it’s not just quiverfull explanations! It’s that church people accept being around kids at social events. We (non church people) lost all of our childless friends within about two years of having a kid. The lifestyles were just incompatible and they weren’t ready to transition to daytime barbecues at the park. My church going sister? Kids are welcome at almost all of her social events, and she even attends women’s groups that have free childcare.
Obviously you can build that kind of community outside of church, but it’s not easy without the existing culture and infrastructure.