In 2018, French President Emmanuel Macron made the dubious observation that educated women don’t choose to have many kids. “I always say: ‘Present me the woman who decided, being perfectly educated, to have seven, eight, or nine children,’” he said.
Catherine Pakaluk, a Harvard Ph.D. and Catholic University professor, immediately posted a picture of herself with her six children and started a viral hashtag #postcardsformacron, urging educated women with large families to send photos to Macron letting him know how wrong he was.
However, the subject of large families is a professional, as well as personal, concern for Pakaluk. Along with her colleague Emily Reynolds, Pakaluk has now conducted a uniquely experiential study over the course of several years and across ten American regions, dissecting the reason, meaning, and intentions behind large families…
