Jurist UN report finds economic and social barriers drive declining birth rates

[Dadparvar]

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) released their annual “state of the world population” report Tuesday, revealing how social and economic barriers effect global fertility decline.

The report, titled “The real fertility crisis: The pursuit of reproductive agency in a changing world,” collected research from 14 countries that together represent over a third of the global population. Within each country, researchers interviewed a number of individuals who recounted their views and experiences related to fertility.

The research challenged current rhetoric tied to global-birthrate decline and instead drew attention to the systemic issues and institutional failures that prevent people from having children. These include most notably, lack of respect and enforcement for reproductive rights, gender-based discrimination, economic insecurity, and lacking access to affordable childcare and effective healthcare.

Summarizing its findings, the UNFPA stated:

This crisis is not rooted in individual reproductive decisions that fail to align with the needs of a state or economy. Rather it is a crisis rooted in environments and policy choices that are misaligned with the desires of individuals, which have failed to create the economic security and personal empowerment that people say are preconditions for realizing their family formation goals – whether that goal is to have many children, few children or none at all.

Financial considerations represented the leading category of reported reasons people gave as to why they decline to have children, with 39 percent of interviewees citing economic constrains as a fertility barrier. Respondents also cited fears about the future as the a significant reason for not having children, most commonly referring to climate change and increasing ecological collapse.

The report underscored how marginalized communities disproportionally experience fertility issues and lacking reproductive agency. The report found that “roughly a quarter of women are unable to say no to sex” and same amount “cannot make their own healthcare decisions.” Availability of proper contraception, access to maternity/paternity leave, and affordable childcare also continue to burden reproductive agency.

The report concluded that strengthening reproductive agency will help to solve the fertility decline. This includes bolstering reproductive rights and the freedom to chose when, and with whom, to start a family. However, researchers additionally emphasized the need to orient policy decisions around improving the material conditions for new families through investing in housing, labor rights (namely maternity and paternity leave), support for gender equality, and broader economic stability.

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