Description

Having children is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make in your life. Increasingly, we aren’t making it at all.

‘A book for lovers of sound reasoning.’ THE NEW YORKER

Across the developed world, fewer and fewer people are becoming parents. We seek self-fulfilment; we want women to find meaning and self-worth outside the household; we wish to protect the planet from the ravages of climate change; we do what we can to protect others from senseless suffering. On the face of it, none of these goals are served by having children. Amid such pressures, how on earth can we make the choice to do so?

Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman offer a way out of this inertia and indecision by reminding us that in making the individual decision whether to have children, we confront a profound philosophical question: for all its pains and failures, is human life worth living? What Are Children For? is a stirring call to overcome fear and dread and embrace the value of human existence and a human future.

Publisher Review

‘A lucid and sophisticated treatment of a question we all share a stake in: Ought there be future generations? Carving out a conversation about parenthood and the future that’s undisturbed by the warping effects of the culture wars, the book ably addresses contemporary challenges to parenthood – both practical and political – while developing its own optimistic case for human life.’ Elizabeth Bruenig, The Atlantic ‘In their widely researched and patiently argued book, Berg and Wiseman show how competing ideas about freedom, happiness, love, dignity, and justice attach to the increasingly ambivalent acts of having and raising children. What Are Children For? models the curiosity and the scepticism we need to imagine a collective future in dark times.’ Merve Emre, The New Yorker ‘A book not merely about parents and their choices, but about the full meaning of adulthood today. Berg and Wiseman address, with triumphant patience, rigour and generosity, this subject which we are constantly warned can’t be contained by a book.’-Lillian Fishman, author of Acts of Service ‘Berg and Wiseman offer some rare hopefulness and their words will likely be of reassurance to those who want to have children.’ TLS ‘By far the most honest, unsentimental, unpredictable, and rigorously thoughtful exploration of parenting that I have ever read. Berg and Wiseman’s debut is a much-needed and impressively original inquiry into a topic that is almost always treated in deadeningly stale terms.’ Becca Rothfeld, The Washington Post ‘An incisive look at a monumental life choice.’ Publishers Weekly ‘This is a brave, lucid book, and Berg and Wiseman deserve great credit for their readiness to ask tough questions.’ Kirkus Reviews