Importance of Having Children

A few years ago, I gathered some resources, research, quotes, sound logic, news, and spiritual confirmations of the importance of having children, and made it into a Family Home Evening (FHE) lesson for my children:

To further spread the good word and counter the constant bombardment we get from the world that having children is a negative thing, I have put those resources, and more, here on this page. It’s divided into the following sections:

• Scriptures on the Importance of Having Children
• Modern Church Leaders on the Importance of Having Children
• Research and News

Scriptures on the Importance of Having Children

• “And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.” -Genesis 1:22
• “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it.” -Gen 1:28
• “And Adam knew his wife, and she bare unto him sons and daughters, and they began to multiply and to replenish the earth.” -Moses 5:2
• “Children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” -Psalm 127:3
• “For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves.” -D&C 104: 17
• “If a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant …they shall pass …to their exaltation and glory in all things …which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.” -D&C 132:19
• “For they are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfil the promise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world, and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men; for herein is the work of my Father continued, that he may be glorified.” -D&C 132:63

Modern Church Leaders on the Importance of Having Children

• “It is possible that devotion to career can become the paramount focus of one’s life. Then all else becomes secondary, including any claim the Savior may make on one’s time and talent. For men, and for women as well, forgoing legitimate opportunities for marriage, failing to cleave to and lift one’s spouse, failing to nurture one’s children, or even intentionally avoiding the blessing and responsibility of child-rearing solely for the sake of career advancement can convert laudable achievement into a form of rebellion.” -Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Oct. 2024
• “Children are our most precious gift from God—our eternal increase. Yet we live in a time when many women wish to have no part in the bearing and nurturing of children. Many young adults delay marriage until temporal needs are satisfied…The number of births to Church members is falling…Over 40% of births in the United States are to unwed mothers. Those children are vulnerable. Each of these trends works against our Father’s divine plan of salvation.” –Pres. Dallin H. Oaks, April 2022
• “It is concerning that even in some of the most prosperous countries of the world, fewer children are being born. ‘God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force.’ When to have a child and how many children to have are private decisions to be made between a husband and wife and the Lord. With faith and prayer, these sacred decisions can be beautiful, revelatory experiences.” – Elder Neil L. Andersen, April 2021
• “Some years ago, one of our young married daughters and her husband asked Sister Rasband and me a very important, life-influencing question: ‘Is it still safe and wise to bring children into this seemingly wicked and frightening world we live in?’ …They seriously considered our conversation that night; they prayed and fasted and came to their own conclusions. Happily and joyfully for them and for us, the grandparents, they have now been blessed with seven beautiful children as they go forward in faith and love.” – Ronald A. Rasband, Oct 2018
• “The proclamation affirms the continuing duty of husband and wife to multiply and replenish the earth and their “solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children” -Dallin H. Oaks, Oct 2017
• “The greatest reward we have received in this life, and the life to come, is our children and our grandchildren.” -Boyd K. Packer, Apr 2015
• “If you are concerned about providing financially for a wife and family, may I assure you that there is no shame in a couple having to scrimp and save. It is generally during these challenging times that you will grow closer together as you learn to sacrifice and to make difficult decisions.” – Thomas S. Monson, Apr 2011
• “To you young women with small children, yours is a tremendous challenge. So often there is not enough money. You must scrimp and save. You must be wise and careful in your expenditures. You must be strong and bold and brave and march forward with gladness in your eye and love in your heart. How blessed you are, my dear young mothers. You have children who will be yours forever. …Nothing else you will ever own, no worldly thing you will ever acquire will be worth so much as the love of your children.” – Gordon B. Hinckley, Oct 2003
• “Grand as it is, planet Earth is part of something even grander—that great plan of God. Simply summarized, the earth was created that families might be.” Russell M. Nelson (father of 10 children), April 2000
• “Think of it: When a mother bears and cares for a child, she not only helps the earth answer the end of its creation, but she glorifies God!” – Russell M. Nelson, Apr 2002
• “Grand as it is, planet Earth is part of something even grander—that great plan of God. Simply summarized, the earth was created that families might be.” – Russell M. Nelson, Apr 2000
• “What greater thing in all this world can there be than to become the father of a precious child, a son or daughter of God. …The Lord has ordained that we should marry, that we shall live together in love and peace and harmony, that we shall have children and rear them in His holy ways.” – Gordon B. Hinckley, Apr 1998
• “The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. …Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. …Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity.” -The Family, A Proclamation to the World, 1995
• “We do not fear the phony population explosion, nor do we fear a shortage of food, if we can be free and good. The Lord has declared, ‘… the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare.’ (D&C 104:17.) We can accept this promise with confidence.” -Elder Ezra Taft Benson, April 1973
• “The noblest calling in the world is motherhood. True motherhood is the most beautiful of all arts, the greatest of all professions. She who can paint a masterpiece, or who can write a book that will influence millions, deserves the admiration and plaudits of mankind; but she who rears successfully a family of healthy, beautiful sons and daughters, whose immortal souls will exert an influence throughout the ages long after paintings shall have faded, and books and statues shall have decayed or have been destroyed, deserves the highest honor that man can give, and the choicest blessings of God.” -David O. McKay (from Pathways to Happiness, comp. Llewelyn R. McKay (1957), 116.)

Research and News

• Oct 28, 2025 BYU Forum called “Why Children Became Useless: Faith and the Future of the Family” by Catherine Ruth Pakaluk who teaches at Catholic University. “The children of need are trending to one and done. So who are the children of want and why are they wanted? This insight led me on a journey to meet the 5% of women around the country whose family sizes defy low birth rates …like the biblical Hannah, they took childbearing to be the purpose of their lives and the meaning of their marriages. They quietly arranged their affairs to welcome new life. They fit their passions, interests and professions around children rather than fitting children around those things.” https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/catherine-ruth-pakaluk/why-children-became-useless-faith-and-the-future-of-the-family/
• There is an excellent documentary, called Birthgap, on the world-wide problems with the decline in birth rates in our modern society. Last I checked, it’s available to watch for free on YouTube.
• Japan population dropped by 800,000 in 2022 and the total number of Japanese people fell by nearly 1 million because of declining birth rates. Data shows deaths hit record high of more than 1.56 million in that year, while there were just 771,000 births. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/26/japan-population-how-many-people-drops-first-time-births-deaths
• “The Earth was 379.6 percent more abundant in 2017 than it was in 1980.” -Simon Abundance Index for resource availability.
• “It is your mind that matters economically, as much or more than your mouth or hands. In the long run, the most important economic effect of population size and growth is the contribution of additional people to our stock of useful knowledge. And this contribution is large enough in the long run to overcome all the costs of population growth.” -The Ultimate Resource by Julian Simon
• “Adding more people causes problems. But people are also the means to solve these problems. The main fuel to speed the world’s progress is our stock of knowledge; the brakes are our lack of imagination and unsound social regulations of these activities. The ultimate resource is people—especially skilled, spirited, and hopeful young people endowed with liberty—who will exert their wills and imaginations for their own benefits, and so inevitably they will benefit the rest of us as well.” -The Ultimate Resource by Julian Simon
• “After analyzing the prices of hundreds of commodities, goods, and services spanning two centuries, Marian Tupy and Gale Pooley found that resources became more abundant as the population grew. That was especially true when they looked at “time prices,” which represent the length of time that people must work to buy something. To their surprise, the authors also found that resource abundance increased faster than the population―a relationship that they call “superabundance.” On average, every additional human being created more value than he or she consumed. This relationship between population growth and abundance is deeply counterintuitive, yet it is true. Why? More people produce more ideas, which lead to more inventions. People then test those inventions in the marketplace to separate the useful from the useless. At the end of that process of discovery, people are left with innovations that overcome shortages, spur economic growth, and raise standards of living.” -Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet
• Between 2000 and 2020, global population grew 33%, from 6 to 8 billion. Simultaneously, the % of people in poverty dropped dramatically from 28% down to 12%. (from HumanProgress.org)
• Billionaire tech CEO Elon Musk said in 2021, “I can’t emphasize this enough, there are not enough people.” He said low and rapidly declining birth rates are “one of the biggest risks to civilization” and added that too many “good, smart people” think there are too many people in the world. “It’s completely the opposite,” Musk said, urging people to look at the data. “If people don’t have more children, civilization is going to crumble.”
• In 2019, U.S. birth rate plummeted to a 30-year low, a fertility rate of 1.76 (1,765.5 per 1,000 women), 16% below the level needed for a population to replace itself (which is about 2,000 births per 1,000 women). https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/american-birth-rate-plummets-to-30-year-low/
• In 2021, it was reported that more People Died Than Were Born In Half Of All U.S. states. Obviously, if births are lowers than deaths, that is a long-term recipe for disaster of a population. https://www.dailywire.com/news/more-people-died-than-were-born-in-half-of-all-states-last-year
• Tucker Carlson, March 2023: “Get married and have a ton of kids. Get married when you’re too young, have more kids than you can afford … like Mormon levels of kids.” https://www.deseret.com/2023/5/2/23708090/tucker-carlson-fox-charlie-kirk-mormon-levels-of-kids/
• “Is overpopulation a concern?” Dr. Jordan Peterson explains why population is not a problem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wulnCJBENUQ
• Jordan Peterson – “Humans are a cancer on the planet? What a hell of a thing to say!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr5z_hFzQhw
• Examples of recent technological advances that have improved crop yields
  • Nitrogen fertilizer (from natural gas) is responsible for feeding 50% of the world. https://fossilfuel.com/why-are-fossil-fuels-needed-in-agriculture/
  • Plant geneticists have developed plant variants with double the amount of edible grains. https://www.cshl.edu/researchers-double-sorghum-grain-number-to-improve-food-supply/
  • Drones monitor crops, spray pesticides, and even are scare crows, all of which improve yields. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/10/ghanas-farmers-drones-boost-crop-yields/
  • LED bulbs have been optimized to be more sun-like for indoor farming, so crops grow faster, larger, and with better nutritional content. https://compoundsemiconductor.net/article/107988/Seoul_Natural_Spectrum_LEDs_Increase_Crop_Yields
  • Farmers use big data and AI to boost crop yields by 40% and reduce fertilizer. https://blog.ciat.cgiar.org/artificial-intelligence-and-farmer-knowledge-boost-smallholder-maize-yields/