Which statement best explains the trend toward lower birthrates in the late 1800s? a) The Homestead Act significantly increased the number of families practicing subsistence farming in the West. Scarce agricultural yields and resources necessitated smaller households to support.

b) The Comstock Act limited young people’s access to information about sex and contraception. Limited birth control options prompted successful social movements for premarital abstinence.

c) The new economy led to a growing middle class. Middle-class people tended to marry later in life and concentrated financial resources on educating fewer children in preparation for professional futures.

d) Women’s activist groups discouraged women’s traditional roles in America. Women increasingly rejected marriage and child-rearing in favor of professional and political careers.