John P. Holdren --- Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology
".......Overpopulation was an early concern and interest. In a 1969 article, Holdren and co-author Paul R. Ehrlich argued, "if the population control measures are not initiated immediately, and effectively, all the technology man can bring to bear will not fend off the misery to come." In 1973, Holdren encouraged a decline in fertility to well below replacement in the United States, because "210 million now is too many and 280 million in 2040 is likely to be much too many." In 1977, Paul R. Ehrlich, Anne H. Ehrlich, and Holdren co-authored the textbook Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment; they discussed the possible role of a wide variety of solutions to overpopulation, from voluntary family planning to enforced population controls, including forced sterilization for women after they gave birth to a designated number of children, and discussed "the use of milder methods of influencing family size preferences" such as access to birth control and abortion.
Other early publications include Energy (1971), Human Ecology (1973), Energy in Transition (1980), Earth and the Human Future (1986), Strategic Defenses and the Future of the Arms Race (1987), Building Global Security Through Cooperation (1990), and Conversion of Military R&D (1998)......"
_______________________
The Intellectual Roots of Paul Ehrlich's The Population Bomb (and the pre-prehistory of climate alarmism) [John P. Holdren collaborated with the Ehrlichs on "The Population Bomb" [1968]
I remember those 1960’s publications and the depressing conversations at the water cooler. I was a working, married woman (pregnant with my 3rd of 4 children and made to feel guilty for overpopulating) when the one kind, young gay guy in the office; offered how it was OK - I was having his share of offspring;) Yes, he had to ‘come out’ because one young woman was falling for him.
Values have changed and affected how we relate to grandparents; with so many divorces and remarriages - it’s tough to keep up with & take care of 8-10 disabled elderly, unrelated step-parents in our homes (the old Italian/Irish way).
WRT to the birth rate and number of workers. Although married, working women possible have fewer children (future contributors); they are increasing the current participation. 6 of one- 1/2 dozen of another.