
Hannah's Children
The Stories of Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth
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Narrated by:
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Jaimee Draper
About this listen
A portrait of America's most interesting yet overlooked women.
In the midst of a historic "birth dearth," why do some 5 percent of American women choose to defy the demographic norm by bearing five or more children? Hannah’s Children is a compelling portrait of these overlooked but fascinating mothers who, like the biblical Hannah, see their children as their purpose, their contribution, and their greatest blessing.
The social scientist Catherine Pakaluk, herself the mother of eight, traveled across the United States and interviewed fifty-five college-educated women who were raising five or more children. Through open-ended questions, she sought to understand who these women are, why and when they chose to have a large family, and what this choice means for them, their families, and the nation.
Hannah’s Children is more than interesting stories of extraordinary women. It presents information that is urgently relevant for the future of American prosperity. Many countries have experimented with aggressively pro-natalist public policies, and all of them have failed. Pakaluk finds that the quantitative methods to which the social sciences limit themselves overlook important questions of meaning and identity in their inquiries into fertility rates. Her book is a pathbreaking foray into questions of purpose, religion, transcendence, healing, and growth—questions that ought to inform economic inquiry in the future.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2024 Catherine Pakaluk (P)2024 Oasis AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Fascinating Insights
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Compelling Listen.
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Inspiring and well read
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I was surprised that rising infertility rates were not noted as a possible cause for dwindling birth rates, since this is a huge issue facing many, many women today who would love to have children.
A fascinating look into big families & the women that birth them.
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Absolutely worth your time!
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Thought provoking!
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Although this is mainly about the decisions women make to have a large family over career, there was a section from a Mormon mom relaying a bit of Mormon theology (I'm not a Mormon, but I do appreciate them for genealogy tools and food preservation videos) about families being eternal. That had me thinking about heaven and eternity and career and I have very little interest in seeing any of my co-workers in the afterlife. For some, if I saw them, I would immediately know that I'm in Hell.
The author does not spend a lot of time bashing feminism but feminism is the unhappy childless wine aunt at the cookout. It is acknowledged but their seat at the table isn't in a spot of honor. Another topic acknowledged, but not the focus is the demographic population decline. Long story short financial incentives are not going to make women want to have a bunch of babies.
There are many moms interviewed in the book. Some do have careers. There is the part time pediatrician and the college professor. But majority of moms in the book have chosen to focus on being a mother of many kids. In some ways their reasons or situations overlap, but no always.
There is some research to the book. There is an accompanying PDF with sources. Just listening, one might miss the parts where studies or researched information is mentioned.
The narration is phenomenal. The narrator makes the statements from the different moms sound as if she listened to the interview tapes and chose to take on the different women;s speech patterns.
I appreciate hearing the different stories from different women, Christian, Jewish, etc about how and why they chose to have children and not stop at two. This is mainly about women who have their own biological families and only one blended family. This is not about large adopted families. However, as someone trying to increase her family via adoption the moms explain why the more is the merrier and way more rewarding than a career where everyone will forget you 6 months after you've retired or left. So they won't be looking you up in the heavenly kingdom.
Family or co-workers? Who'd you prefer?
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an economist's analytical approach layered atop a mother's nuanced perspective.
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The narrator also did an excellent job!! She truly brought the women’s stories to life by her voice acting!! Bravo!!
Love it!!
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Life Changing
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