Anecdotal evidence suggests that in developed countries, educated, employed people will have children if they reasonably can. They will have extra children if it is financially and organisationally possible.

Statistically, this can be seen very clearly in the difference of fecundity rates between Germany and France. The difference is social engineering by the government : mandating maternity leave, with the obligation for the employer to take a woman back afterwards; organisation of schools and affordable childcare to make parenting compatible with full-time work; tax breaks for families with children; etc.

I suspect that Washington, Oregon etc. have increasing populations, because they are fine places to migrate to. But I think their state governments would do well to examine these policy areas if they are concerned about fecundity rates.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II}