Or rather, a snide connection between his short term outlook at his childlessness did.

FORBES: Niall Ferguson's Keynes Was Childless, Gay, So Don't Worry About The Long Term Rumpus

The criticism of Keynes and his childlessness actually surfaced very soon after his death.

FORBES: Niall Ferguson's Keynes Was Childless, Gay, So Don't Worry About The Long Term Rumpus

Bottom line: As the rate of childlessness equalizes the decision to have or not have children becomes more of a voluntary one.

FORBES: Childlessness Is Up, But Not Among Highly Educated Women

Conversely, the biggest increase in childlessness over the past decade was among women with the least amount of education (high school or less).

FORBES: Childlessness Is Up, But Not Among Highly Educated Women

Ida Magli, an anthropologist, has come up with another reason: childlessness no longer bears a stigma, and the social pressure to marry and have children is much weaker.

ECONOMIST: Why Italians don��t make babies