The declining birthrate in the Netherlands in the 1970s & projections concerning the bourgeois family model of the future are briefly discussed as an introduction to a review of two books edited by G. A. B. Frinking & J. H. M. Nelissen: (1) Ontgroening in Nederland: Achtergronden, Ontwikkelingen en implicaties van een jeugdarme samenleving ([Degreening in the Netherlands: The Background, Developments, and Implications of a Child-Poor Society], Amersfoort: Acco, 1988); & (2) Het kind als keuze: demografische ontwikkelingen in Nederland ([The Child as a Choice: Demographic Developments in the Netherlands] The Hague: SDU Publishers, 1988 [see listings in IRPS No. 53]). The individual contributions to the first book are outlined, & three shortcomings are noted: (A) the looseness of the collection, presenting a rather unsystematic treatment of the causes & consequences of decreasing childbirth; (B) the many questions left unanswered; & (C) sloppy typography & organization of auxiliary material. The second book is a valuable contribution to the discussion of the relationship between the freedom of individuals to have a choice regarding having children & their social solidarity. Z. Dubiel
