social labour and activity, becomes an antiquated and unmitigated
misstatement.

Not only are millions of our women precluded from ever bearing a child, but
for those of us who do bear the demand is ever increasingly in civilised
societies coupled with the condition that if we would act socially we must
restrict our powers. (As regards modern civilised nations, we find that
those whose birthrate is the highest per woman are by no means the
happiest, most enlightened, or powerful; nor do we even find that the
population always increases in proportion to the births. France, which in
many respects leads in the van of civilisation, has one of the lowest
birthrates per woman in Europe; and among the free and enlightened
population of Switzerland and Scandinavia the birthrate is often
exceedingly low; while Ireland, one of the most unhappy and weak of
European nations, had long one of the highest birthrates, without any
proportional increase in population or power. With regard to the different
classes in one community, the same effect is observable. The birthrate per
woman is higher among the lowest and most ignorant classes in the back
slums of our great cities, than among the women of the upper and cultured
classes, mainly because the age at which marriages are contracted always
tends to become higher as the culture and intelligence of individuals
rises, but also because of the regulation of the number of births after
marriage. Yet the number of children reared to adult years among the more
intelligent classes probably equals or exceeds those of the lowest, owing
to the high rate of infant mortality where births are excessive.)

Looking round, then, with the uttermost impartiality we can command, on the
entire field of woman's ancient and traditional labours, we find that fully
three-fourths of it have shrunk away for ever, and that the remaining
fourth still tends to shrink.