Yale Philosopher L. A. Paul Discusses Motherhood as Swiss Birth Rate Plummets

Swiss birth rates have fallen sharply, and a study commissioned to examine the causes found that more than half of childless people aged 18 to 45 do not want to start a family. The reasons cited for this reluctance are varied. In an interview published by the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Yale philosopher L. A. Paul spoke about her own experience of motherhood, describing how she had plunged into the abyss and found it totally cool. The interview appears in the NZZ Feuilleton section and is tied to the broader debate over declining birth rates in Switzerland. The discussion pairs a personal philosophical account of becoming a parent with demographic data on why so many young Swiss adults are choosing to remain childless.