IN THE UK, AMONG MANY OTHER PLACES, WEare having fewer children and having them later in life, if at all. What Are Children For? On Ambivalence and Choice, co-authored by philosophers Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman, does not seek to answer its own question, mounting neither a defence of children nor an attack on their utility. Instead, it is about those who equivocate. It is for people who are unsure whether they want children.
That we can individually choose to become a parent is an extremely good and hard-won thing. But Berg and Wiseman are right to point out that merely shrugging and saying, “It’s up to you”, is tantamount to “abandoning the uncertain” to their fate.
Though drawing on dozens of interviews and hundreds of survey responses, the book…
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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, December/January 2025