Why People Are Having Fewer Kids, Even If They Want Them

People around the world have less and less children, and not always because they don’t want them.

The average global fertility rate fell less than half in the United Nations in the 1960s. FoundIn the majority of countries, it falls below the “replacement level üzerinden required to protect the existing population.

In the midst of this historical fall, approximately 20% of the reproductive age adults from 14 countries from around the world believe that they cannot have the number of children they want, the UN’s sexual and reproductive health and rights agency, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), report Published this week. For many, the report found that there was no infertility that prevented them from doing so. Financial limitations pointed out the factors that the obstacles to fertility or medical care of pregnancy and the fact that the situation of the world prevented their own fertility and reproductive choices.

“If the conditions are right, there are many people who want to have children and have more children than they have, and the obligation of the government, good work-life balance, safe employment, providing better health and services, providing better health and services, providing welfare, welfare. However, some governments – such as cutting Medicaid in the United States and implementing restrictions on reproductive health and autonomy – he says that the policies he implemented are both a step for the rights of people and are “demographic opposite to the opposite”.

Read more: Why is so many women waiting for a longer time to have children?

For the report, UNFPA conducted a survey representing more than one third of the world’s population in 14 countries in Asia, Europe, North America, South America, South America and Africa in collaboration with Yougov.

“There is a gap between the number of children that people want to have and the number they have, Rand says Randeria. “For us, by asking what happened to this void – it was important to ask.”

Financial Barriers

The most important obstacles survey was found to have the number of children the participants’ number: 39% of financial restrictions, 19% housing limitations, 12% sufficient or quality child care options, and 21% unemployment or unemployment.

The prices of all kinds of goods and services have increased rapidly in recent years. Global inflation has reached the highest level since the mid -1990s in July 2022, World Bank Group. Although it has decreased since then, the current levels are still above the levels seen before the COVİD-19 PANDEM.

Read more: Why is affordable child care for so many people?

Increased costs made both housing and child care difficult. For example, in the US, the Treasury Ministry of Housing costs Increased faster than income For the last twenty years, it has increased by about 65% since 2000 when it has been adjusted according to inflation. And research, the cost of child care in the USA rise In recent years, transcendental What are many Americans pay for housing or college.

The United Nations Human Settlements Program affects the existing housing crisis “every region and country”, report Last year, it estimates that between 1.6 billion and 3 billion people around the world are not enough housing.

Reproductive obstacles

People showed other factors that prevented them from having as many children as they wanted, including obstacles to assisted reproductive and carrier.

There are many countries including France, Spain, Germany and Italy recumbent carrier. The UNFPA report also states that many countries have restricted or prohibit access to assisted reproductive and carrier for couples of the same sex. For example, in Europe, only 17 out of 49 countries allow medically supported seeding for people, regardless of sexual orientations or gender identities.

UNFPA notes As global fertility rates decrease, some governments “take harsh measures to encourage young people to make fertility decisions in accordance with national goals”. The report, however, argues that the “real crisis” is a crisis of a crisis in the reproduction agency – from individuals to contradiction and the ability to make their own free, informed and free choices about everything until they start a family ”.

Accordingly Reproductive Rights Center40% of women of reproductive age worldwide live under the laws of abortion. Many countries including Brazil– PhilippinesAnd PolandIn addition to others – seriously restrict abortion. In 2022, the US Supreme Court broke the turning point decision ROE / Wade, Following the right to constitutional abortion. Since then, More than a dozen state They put into effect total bans or limited abortion. There are many reports in which pregnant people are rejected due to state laws that restrict abortion, and many women said they did not feel safe to become pregnant in states where abortion is banned.

And an increasing share of women around the world was met, while the needs of family planning were met, approximately 164 million were still not from 2021, the UN to create In a report published in 2022.

In addition to considering accessing a human right to family planning, the UN notes It is the key to reducing poverty.

Fear of the future

Approximately 14% of the participants in the UNFPA report said that concerns about political or social situations such as wars and pandemiler would lead to less children than they wanted, or that they would already lead. And approximately 9% of the participants said that concerns about climate change or environmental deterioration would lead to or that they would have less children than they already want.

Read more: Is he afraid of climate change? You can have eco-anxiety

In recent years, violence and conflict has been increasing around the world. The period between 2021 and 2023 was the most violent since the end of the Cold War. World Bank GroupAnd the number of war deaths and violent conflicts has climbed in the last decade.

This violence contributed to the increasing displacement of the years: more than 122 million people worldwide, the UN’s refugee agency, were forced. reported On Thursday, almost twice the number recorded ten years ago.

The effect of the global pandem was felt more widely, and COVİD-19 is unlikely that no one will disappear from the memory when it continues to spread, to develop new variants and to harm people who can last for years. Even beyond Covid, the outbreaks of infectious diseases become more common and Experts are guessing In the coming years, the risk of outbreaks of outbreaks and pandemia will only rise.

In 2024 UN Development Program SurveyApproximately 56% of the participants, which represent about 87% of the global population statistically, think about climate change in daily or weekly. Approximately 53% of the participants said they were more concerned about climate change a year ago. One -third of the participants said that climate change significantly affected major life decisions.