More Women Want To Have Fewer Or No Children: Reasons Behind The Trend

Fertility rates have taken a huge dive today. The disparity between previous years number of childbirths is so huge that it made a lot of people wonder why more and more women refuse to have children or limit their offspring to just one. These women have given answers to the nagging question.

In a report made by South China Morning Post, women explained why they don’t want to have children or wait until they’re older to have one. Some of the reasons include - they consider their business and lifestyle as their life, or that they are not financially equipped. These are the usual sentiments of many as to why they put off bearing a child.

One woman, Sarah Fung, who owns a business, said that she and her Austrian-born husband never thought of having children. She said that what gives her a purpose in life is her business and lifestyle.

Fung added that she finds it easy to say she can’t have children, rather than explain why she does not want to have any children. Fun also believed that the population is so huge at the moment and that there are people who would have children because of the wrong reasons.

Some women would rather have children much later because they are still seeking higher education. Others are fulfilling career paths, and having a child will hinder them from following their desires.

Many couples delay having children because of job instability and the high cost of raising children. In some cases, they tend to make environmental reasons the issue of why they delay childbirth.

On a global scale, the rates of birth and fertility have fallen. In the US alone, the number of babies born hits the lowest mark in 2018. This is the lowest record in 31 years. This record was not just in the US but also in the UK. In 2017, as per Eurostat data, the number of babies born in the EU was 90,000 less than the year before.

The declining birth rate and fertility is not only something that is happening in European countries or America. Asia likewise sees low numbers. In China, despite having relaxed its policy of bearing only one child, it still had the lowest recorded births in 2018.

Having a child is a personal choice. Some couples may choose to delay having one, but there are still many couples who want to raise a family as soon as they get married.