Why are Western women having fewer kids?

Question

i have noticed birth rates are really low lately, especially among modern Western women. They just don't seem interested in having kids anymore. What do you think will happen because of this? How can society deal with it?

4ngelic · Accepted Answer

it's not just western women, it's most of the world including some countries that are very conservative with gender roles like iran or saudi arab. it's only in africa that women are having a lot of kids. it's a mix of a couple different things:

- financial concerns (applies to both sexes). the cost of living has risen really bad in the last decades and worsened significantely since the 2008 crisis, and even more with covid. but wages haven't risen really in decades. back in the 1950s, a man could have a middle class job, buy a house, and amply provide for his wife and children. nowadays a single middle class person is already struggling and can't afford a house. in some poor countries were people are quite miserable, they have loads of kids because it makes no difference or it actually helps them financially. but in developping and developped countries, you can have a good quality of life relative to what it could be and you dont want to hurt that. kids would hurt that if you can't afford them. no one's wants to live somewhere horrid and be on food stamps and work 4 backbreaking jobs with no vacation for decades to provide for 4 kids.

- people are able to avoid getting pregnant. worldwide it's become easier and easier to get access to condoms, birth control pills, and other birth control methods. also abortion.

- there are less and less teen pregnancies. about 40% of the birthrate dropping is because of the rarification of teen pregnancies.

- women worldwide have been gaining more and more rights and have been able to pursue education longer on large scale, and get married later than before. like in more conservative countries, girls will finish highschool then go to college, then get married at 22-25. instead of getting married at 14 with only an elementary school education. worldwide women who complete high school have significantly less children than women who dont, and college educated even less. mainly because they make more informed and intelligent decisions because they are older and more educated, and know more kids means lower life quality and less good career opportunities for them.

- for western women specifically, they no longer romanticize motherhood as much as in previous generations and tend to be more likely to put career before everything like men. a lot of women dont want kids ever too (and a lot of men too) and prefer focusing on their personal developement or simply think it's too expensive and not worth the hassle. a lot also view it actually as quite bad and undesirable, especially young women (like for ex myself when i was 18-21 i thought motherhood was gay and will make you ugly, fat and broke, and have a boring ordinary life. i wanted to push back having kids until i was 'old and ugly' because the bad side effects wouldn't matter anymore and to give meaning to my decrepit existence so over 35 lol. i dont think that anymore though (24 by the way) but it's not something i'm that excited for still even though i want kids for sure down the line)

- western women are giving birth later and later, and that means it's less likely to happen. also men are responsible for 50% of miscarriages and all that nice stuff, and the likelyhood of those things increases with his age too. fertility starts to decline around 30 and steeply declines as they approach 40. more and more women are wanting to start families in their mid - late 30s. for 70% it's all good, but 30% of women of that age range already aren't very fertile or actually downright infertile. a couple decades ago, women starting having kids at earlier ages, usually in their mid twenties.

- hookup culture, the rise of long term serious relationships (including childless ones), the deromanticization of marriage.

- a big portion of men also not wanting kids or wanting them later. it takes two to make a baby, and most women dont want to be single moms.

- a lot of it is actually just biology too. most of the world is collectively in a slow life pace strategy as opposed to a fast life pace strategy that used to be dominant. in evolutionary biology, the abundance/lack of ressources (ie food & water), the degree of risk of human on human violence, and the climate, dictates which strategies for reproducing people take. when humans are in a difficult environment they tend to have a lot of kids, younger, and not invest much time or ressources on them (because their life is more in danger and they probably won't life horribly long, so as their kids). when humans live in good conditions, they tend to delay childbirth, have few kids and invest a lot of time and ressources on them. most of the world nowadays has access to ressources, has relative safety and doesn't live in horrible conditions, so they pick the slow life pace strategy.

MzAsh · Accepted Answer

It’s not that women suddenly stopped liking kids. It’s that we stopped pretending we don’t see the fine print.

Motherhood is beautiful in theory. But in practice, it’s a lifetime contract with no guaranteed help, no consistent support, and no off switch.

A lot of us grew up watching our mothers, our aunts, even our older sisters do it all with a smile. And underneath that smile was burnout, resentment, and a quiet grief for the lives they never got to live.

Some women never wanted kids. Some did, but not under these conditions. Not without a partner who actually pulls weight. Not in an economy where having a child means sacrificing your career, body, freedom, finances, and identity while men get applause for doing the bare minimum.

Call it selfish if you want. But we’ve seen what “selfless” looks like, and it doesn’t look like freedom.

We’re not avoiding motherhood because we hate kids. We’re avoiding it because we’re tired of being the only ones who sacrifice.

Syntosi · Accepted Answer

Generally speaking it has been correlated with urbanization and industrialization. There is something with human nature that means that anytime a society reaches this point they stop having as many kids. Why? We are not entirely sure.

If I had to guess then there are more than one reason for it but I would stake the biggest one on reproduction becoming a choice rather than a consequence. Humans have not stopped having sex so it is not that there aren't couples that could in theory have children and if they were deprived of the choice such as lacking sexual education or condoms then they would be forced to.

If people in society was more invested in having kids and therefore would choose to have kids more easily then I think much of this would be resolved. Addressing peoples concerns however is difficult since every person has their own personal reasons why they might not want to become a parent ranging from financial reasons to whatever else.

Levin · Accepted Answer

Society will deal with it by importing the third world and Muslims who actually do breed and aren't exactly feminists... The great replacement is in full force.

The reasons for why are sort of multifaceted. But certainly what hasn't helped is the housing crisis.

Any sane society and government should consider itself a failure if it can't provide housing for its upcoming generation who are hardworking and in their 20s.

No one gives a shit though. Which explains why the West is gasping for its last breaths.

Plus materialism, nihilism, the death of any sense of soul in the Westerner. People just want to play out their ego fantasies, and have lost any sense of good or rightness.

ODC2112 · Answer

For millennia, procreation was not a matter of personal choice as we understand it today. Most women, and men, never had a real opportunity to decide whether they wanted children: society, religion, and family imposed reproduction as an obligation. Some women may have desired children for reasons related to social status or family continuity, but they were a minority; the majority simply experienced pregnancy and motherhood as an inevitable fate, with no way to prevent it.

With the advent of effective fertility control methods, many women could, for the first time, make a concrete decision about having children. This freedom revealed that a sizable portion of women did not want children, or at least not at that point in life. It’s not that women suddenly stopped wanting children; it is that they previously had no choice. After all, without artificial control, sex inevitably leads to procreation.

When a large part of the population chooses not to have children, or to have only a few, societies risk aging rapidly and losing generational renewal: fewer young people mean a smaller workforce, reduced innovation, and greater pressure on pension and healthcare systems. This phenomenon is particularly evident today in Europe and Japan, where the choice not to have children is widespread, and governments respond with bonuses or pro-natalist campaigns, but without deep cultural change, reversing the trend is difficult.

The ability to become a mother has always conferred a form of “social capital”: status, protection, and privileged roles within family and society. In a context where motherhood was inevitable, this potential to reproduce became a strategic advantage: those who could access this role gained economic and social security, while those who could not, or chose not to, risked marginalization.

Maintaining the status of a potentially reproductive individual for as long as possible, even without wanting children, was therefore a rational way to continue benefiting from these advantages. The benefit does not always come from having children but from being potentially able to have them. In a society that values reproduction, “reproductive capital” becomes a resource to be managed strategically.

We can observe that many female suicides or suicide attempts occur with the onset of menopause, when a woman loses her reproductive capacity and, often, the perception of the social advantages associated with it. In societies where female attractiveness is strongly linked to youth and fertility, this can lead to a collapse in self-esteem, feelings of marginalization, or loss of social role.

However, this phenomenon primarily affects women without children. Women who have already had children have consolidated their social and relational roles: reproductive capital translates into relationships, status, and recognition that continue even after fertility ends. From a sociological perspective, children are therefore not only a biological or emotional matter but also a form of “social insurance.”

CupcakeTheDestroyer · Answer

There’s a good list there.
For one, childcare is insanely expensive.
For another, I’ve rarely met a good man that was also a good father so a lot of women choose not to date.
For another, women are so heavily shamed for having kids “too early” many choose not to at all.
For yet another thing, pregnancy is the riskiest time for a woman to be alive and can create loads of life-changing health complications. Did you know there’s a rare skin condition that causes your body to be absolutely covered in bloody, burning boils as an allergic reaction to pregnancy hormones? It’s horrifying and usually deadly too.
And for yet one more thing, in america specifically you can’t trust your doctor to save your life if there’s complications during the pregnancy if you live in a state that doesn’t allow for abortions. There was a whole thing in Georgia where a woman was turned into a vegetable while pregnant and the government refused to allow the hospital to pull the plug like her family begged for because of their heartbeat bill and basically turned her into a living incubator for a baby that ended up being stillborn anyway.
So yeah, fuck that noise. I’m waiting for the green light to get sterilized.

MisterWack · Answer

Less Resources To Managing A Nuclear Family.

Inflation is through the roof , Careers don’t pay well like they used to (buying power) , Housing Market is a mess , toys & games & diapers cost money , and Many aren’t ready for the negative burdens of parenthood.

You should have a child when you are financially stable , with a partner or someone to act as a secondary care provider for that child , and with mental fortitude since it will make problems worse if you can’t have them controlled , also have a plan never go in without a plan.

Just makes sense. Women aren’t having kids rn because of these issues.
Not to mention the whole online world screwing with their heads , dating apps are a mess and trying to find the right guy is a Hell of a process too which a lot of women don’t want to jump into without knowing a guy enough which good for her.

HighValue · Answer

They want to be promiscuous during their 20s, then once it is too late, they hope to have kids from some sucker, but the men aren't accepting the VERY low quality, morally corrupt western women anymore so birth rates have fallen significantly. Many women lie and pretend they are too focused on a career to have a good relationship and a family, but somehow they have plenty of time to party and get ran through. The majority of them truly are disgusting.

Some even claim they are the only ones sacrificing by staying home, watching TV, and spending 15 hours or less per week of actual work (because they often lie about how many hours it takes) and the man works 40 + hours per week. Same goes for the lie about kids being expensive when low income families actually get lots of money in food stamps, tax deductions, earned income tax credits, free healthcare, etc. They truly are pathetic.

Jackblue · Answer

Women in the past were taught that marriage was the be all end all and that a man would look after them. Nowadays, women know they can have a life beyond the family and that even if they do have a family they may need to get a job as one income often is not enough anymore. Additionally in previous periods mothers weren't expected to supervise their children as closely. All of these things mean that women no longer have the time or energy to have a litter. Additionally, hundreds of years ago, infant mortality was much higher so couples needed many kids to have any serious likelihood of passing their legacy on to the next generation. Now, your kids will most likely live full lives.

Kori1236 · Answer

Kids are stupidly expensive. I personally can barely afford to live myself let alone bringing another life into the mix. I also have a multitude of genetic issues and I wouldn’t wish the life I have lived on anyone so I wouldn’t want to pass down those genetics. If I ever considered kids it would be through adoption and fostering.

CB-Raido-Time · Answer

Women have largely failed their role in humanity. Not only do they not want children they scream for their so called right to outright murder children call it abortion call whatever you will the bottom line is is murder it's more than that look at all the children that were aborted since 1973 it's genocide. Those who don't love and want children we don't mix stay away from me far away. But asker wants to know the future there is is>

Isaiah 13:12 An Oracle Concerning Babylon
…11I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will end the haughtiness of the arrogant and lay low the pride of the ruthless. 12I will make man scarcer than pure gold, and mankind rarer than the gold of Ophir. 13Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the wrath of the LORD of Hosts on the day of His burning anger.…

purplepoppy · Answer

Because back in the day most of your kids died of polio before starting school. That doesn't happen anymore. Another reason is back then men earned enough money so their wife could stay home with a dozen kids but now men don't work hard enough so their wives also need jobs hence less kids.

LazerBean · Answer

People who are educated tend to have less children. Since most of the world is becoming more educated, the men and women of most countries are starting to have less children. Also birth control is now easily accessible do anyone who isn't extremely poor or a crackhead type.

slatyb · Answer

The high cost of housing them and raising them, and the high personal cost of raising them when the father doesn't contribute his time. What will happen? It's already happening -- societies are growing older.

How can society deal with it? By recognizing that women don't have to bear children, and would like to have the same autonomy as men, the ability to have a career and a family.

Skyros · Answer

Before I say this, I love women in the sense of friendship and do not wish to insult them. After reading some of the ladies’ comments I have to ask, why are you so caught up with your freedom? Someone once told me “We are never free”. That goes for everyone under the sun. If anyone ever achieved freedom from man he/she would never be free from God. I’m sorry if that hurts, but it’s the inescapable truth. I hate myself, there’s nothing I can do about it but accept it 🤦🏻‍♂️. May peace go with you all.

Agape93 · Answer

Life is getting more expensive, and wages aren't keeping up. Medical care is more expensive. Kids are disgusting and loud. Male quality is getting lower and lower. Etc.

Why would you want kids when the world seems so dead set on punishing you for it?

DJB72 · Answer

With a big "thank you" to the modern feminist movement that's created the situation in the West where motherhood and being a traditional wife is seen as somehow demeaning, while working a bunch of minimum-wage jobs to support three kids with different fathers or in-utero infanticide are seen as "empowering" behaviour.

Look at what feminism has changed in to since the suffragette movement.

FreyaRed · Answer

Animals don't procreate in hostile environments. When you have too many fishes in an aquarium they stop to lay eggs or even if they do they are incapable to defend those egg against other fishes.

Gwendoline · Answer

Waiting too long going to college, finding a job waiting until 30 to marry then only having time left for one or two as well as want few for financial reasons. For many time just runs out

fonduegirl · Answer

Indian here. It's stressful to have kids. I don't need that kind of tension in my life. I earn my money for myself and I'll never waste it on other people. Lastly, I love my body too much

beefcakebradybatson · Answer

Not just Western women: After the 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini-led Islamic Revolution, Iranian women averaged six children. At last look, circa 2015, that number mirrored Western women's fecundity at about 1.8 children per women because women and girls started to received an education after Ayatollah Khomeini's death and extreme Islam lessened its grip. ANYWHERE in the world, women bear fewer children when they become more educated, and Western women are often more educated than Western men.

Miristheiss · Answer

Feminism has convinced generations that having full time jobs is more fulfilling and that lots of casual sex is empowering and family and one sex partnwr is oppression or a lesser life.

The pill made all of this possible.

Avicenna · Answer

The cost of child care and the cost of living in general. Not finding the right person to have a kid with.

Negativity from leftists who act like bringing a child into the world is an awful thing to do.

AviatorTom · Answer

Mother Nature built women to have children, and continue the human species. Feminism has taught women that's not their main goal, and that it's okay to have a no-kids career instead.

exitseven · Answer

It costs boatloads of money to have kids unless you are on welfare, then everything is paid for by the taxpayers. The , more kids you have, the more money you get.

DryGermanGuy · Answer

Most countries are no longer agricultural societies, where every child is automatically an additional farm hand.

Massageman · Answer

What will happen? Social Security will not have enough wage-earners to support it without going to a "pay on every dollar earned" basis (which it should have done from the beginning).

Filthy_Immigrant · Answer

because a lot of them have finally realized that they dont got what it takes to be mothers. let's not forget that a lot of politicians in the west have decided to weaponize human reproduction

jshm2 · Answer

High Cost, no marriage security and low child support.  It just isn't worth raising kids, for Western women.

SunnyCaliGirl · Answer

It had to do with a major shift and socialism standards and the other part kids be expensive as hell! And right now the economy isn’t the greatest to be having kids in to afford kids

abc3643 · Answer

In the United States, the average price to have a baby is 33 k$. Think about that.

Nerdvana · Answer

Are western women saying they want to have less kids? or are you just assuming it's the women? Just curious why did you phase the question to western men as well?

Staximus · Answer

They are even lower in Japan. Kids are expensive and a lot of responsibility, and you can't work at a gas station or a burger stand and still rent your own house like it's 1955 again

jazzy34 · Answer

Some women simply choose to be child free. No further explanation needed.

PrettyCrumblBb · Answer

Cos the world is going to hell in a hand basket.  Schools are teaching kids that you can be the opposite gender or no gender. This isn't a safe world for kids.

mysteriousN · Answer

control96 given the "freedoms" they just want to Party and have fun or have a man (married, long term etc) and party without the baggage 🛅🛄 of offspring

Hispanic-Cool-Guy · Answer

Expenses and kids literally will rob you of your time and life and many men and women just don't want to give up their lives for kids especially more than 2.

goaded · Answer

Pass a living wage law. Would you have kids if you knew you couldn't afford to feed them?

Fatosist · Answer

İam from caucasus and I dont want having a babytoo, i think women loose their freedome arter baby

jackieistired · Answer

NO MONEY TO RAISE THEM AND MEN DONT WANT TO GET MARRIED ANYMORE. THEY THINK UNLIMITED OPTIONS BECAUSE OF HINGE AND INSTAGRAM

Ariesman81 · Answer

Feminists. Nobody wants them and they just can't figure out why. Society is correcting the problem. It's called MGTOW and passport bros.

genericname85 · Answer

cause why have kids if now the standard for successfull women is to be a ceo of something?

KostasKouvalis · Answer

They don't wanna bring children into a woke, corrupt and dangerous world

dragoblack · Answer

Aside from dating society being crap... have you seen the USA economy? It's unaffordable to have kids and raise them

JesseP1nk · Answer

Conservatives have more kids then libertarians. It is pretty easy to see what will happen. They will die alone with their bs beliefs

Anonymous · Answer

because contrary to popular belief, they don't actually mature more than men

Abdulw · Answer

They afraid that having kids will mess up their bodies.

DCVsMarvel2 · Answer

I'm an American male, and even I dont want kids kids, are the devil, incarnate

seeyounexttuesday · Answer

Western women are the most narcissistic group of people ever to exist.

Anonymous · Answer

Feminism essentially telling women that having children and a family is somehow slavery.

nojdug76 · Answer

Maybe bemause they think first for there career but women you can also have kids and careers

itsannalee · Answer

Because kids are expensive.

236color · Answer

Because it's too expensive

Flower7 · Answer

This is not a problem.

Anonymous · Answer

the cost of living. High IQ people take into account the cost before having kids.

glennos89 · Answer

Because they have rights😂

Shiprex · Answer

Expensive and women want to emulate men.

DrPepper12 · Answer

Why is this an alleged problem?

Anonymous · Answer

They have wisened up.

Kelly6 · Answer

@control96 financial problems.

Sal_Monella · Answer

Feminist movement and materialism.

noohair · Answer

Social Media has ruined dating and courtship...

Anonymous · Answer

I guess because it's modern.

John0986 · Answer

Money

Why are Western women having fewer kids?

Most Helpful Opinions

What Girls & Guys Said

Why are Western women having fewer kids?

Most Helpful Opinions

What Girls & Guys Said

We're glad to see you liked this post.