IFS Launches the Pronatalism Initiative Under New Senior Fellow Lyman Stone

Demographer Lyman Stone has been awarded an Institute for Family Studies (IFS) senior fellowship to establish the Pronatalism Initiative. With governments around the world grappling for urgent solutions to a rapid decline in fertility, the IFS Pronatalism Initiative will pioneer new research to create a suite of policies to counteract global fertility decline. Stone, chief information officer of the consulting firm Demographic Intelligence, joins the team at IFS where he was previously a research fellow.

In his most recent report released last month, Is There Hope for Low Fertility? 'Demographic Rearmament' in Southern Europe, Stone made the case for governments enacting specifically pronatalist policies. In the report, he claimed that not only do government pronatalist policies have historic precedence but that they also work. By comparing the plummeting fertility rates in Portugal, Spain, and Italy with those of France, Stone and report co-author Erin Wingerter note that France had a population advantage compared to its neighbors because of specifically pronatalist policies enacted by the French government in the twentieth century.

“I am delighted to be joining the Institute for Family Studies as a senior fellow,” Stone said. “The IFS is respected by policy makers and the media for its high caliber research. The IFS Pronatalism Initiative will lead the broad and urgent interest in fertility to a clear, well-researched suite of policy solutions."

He added, "Fertility rebound is not only possible, it may even be likely.”

The IFS Pronatalism Initiative has been seed-funded with a $50,000 award from Emergent Ventures.

“We are thrilled to receive this award from Emergent Ventures. The fertility crisis in the United States and around the world demands rigorous research identifying drivers and solutions of the collapse in fertility rates,” said IFS Executive Director, Michael Toscano. “The IFS Pronatalism Initiative will build a team around Stone’s research to show countries, willing to make a concerted effort, how to address their fertility problems.”

The IFS Pronatalism Initiative is anticipated to produce a major report a year which will be made available to policy makers and journalists alike via our website.