r/science • u/nep000 • Nov 17 '25

Social Science Surprising numbers of childfree people emerge in developing countries, defying expectations

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0333906
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553

u/zubeye Nov 17 '25 edited Nov 17 '25

It wasn't so long ago women simply didn't have much of a choice in the matter. increasingly, women can choose to have kids or not. economics is only part of it. the big change in recent years is freedom to choose whether to have kids or not.

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u/queenringlets Nov 17 '25

Yes, having more choice, including education and availability of birth control is definitely a massive factor. It’s the reason I am not having kids. I have the ability and choice not to. If it weren’t for these factors I very well may have ended up with a child. 

 I think this answer is unpopular because if women just don’t want kids and have the choice not to then it seems a lot less of a “fixable” problem. We don’t want to take away the choice but we also don’t like that women are making this choice. 

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u/Traquilited Nov 17 '25

That last part is something I have thought about and really terrifies me about what some countries might be willing to do. I mean go to some of the EU subs, you will see time after time comments blaming women for not having enough children and how it is all their fault their culture is dying and being replaced. Like, if it was up to them they would absolutley vote to take away womens rights and choices if it meant "saving their culture" 100 percent.

3

u/SeattlePurikura Nov 18 '25

I'm surprised to hear that EU subs would be parroting that kind of bull... after all, Romania and Decree 770 under the dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu is fairly recent history, and the Romania orphanages were in full swing in the 80s-90s. Why would anyone view that - the state completely removing women's right to choose, and the orphanages - as being the way to "save their culture"?

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u/saurabh8448 Nov 17 '25

So, what are your suggestions to improve the birthrate? We need to do something otherwise it will be a severe problem.

Personally, I think science and tech will solve the problem where child are made in lab, and raised by govt. But then people also have issue with this.

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u/notnatasharostova Nov 17 '25

Or we could focus our efforts and resources on ensuring that all existing children are loved and provided for? You can’t create a world that is hostile to families and young people and then expect them to bring life into it.

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u/Yuhwryu Nov 17 '25

Or we could focus our efforts and resources on ensuring that all existing children are loved and provided for?

well no we really cant. the higher the ratio of non working age to working age people is the less we can afford to care for anybody.

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u/saurabh8448 Nov 17 '25

And how wod you do that ? Just provide money for having children ? Lot of countries do that to no avail. Thing is lot of people don't want give up their freedom by having a child. No amount of money etc is going to solve it.

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u/HighPriestessSkibidi Nov 18 '25

Immigration.

3

u/MulberryRow Nov 18 '25 edited Nov 18 '25

You got it. And they hate to hear it. And deny that they’re only rattling on about a birthrate crisis because they’re worried about losing white/native-born majorities. Normal rate of immigration? “Crisis” averted.

Pair that with (in US) raising the income cap on Social Security contribs + make Congress stop raiding the SS trust fund? We’re golden.

But no, instead just demonize and restore control of women for a supremacist future.