Latest news with #DrNataliaKanem
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
A mother carriers her baby during celebrations for Eid al-Adha at Trafalgar Square in June 2025 in London, U.K. A new UNFPA report warns that as global fertility rates are declining, very high proportions of men and women in every region of the world are unable to achieve their fertility aspirations.
Why aren't people having more kids? What we should actually be asking, according to a new global report, is why so many people feel like they can't. It's often assumed that low fertility rates are due to people simply not wanting to have children, or more than one or two, but a report released Tuesday from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says that's not the whole picture. "Vast numbers of people are unable to create the families they want," said Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA's executive director, in a news release. That lack of choice "is the real fertility crisis," she said, "and the answer lies in responding to what people say they need: paid family leave, affordable fertility care and supportive partners." The UNFPA report included polling by YouGov. About one in five of the reproductive-aged adults surveyed in 14 different countries said they won't be able to have the number of children they would like, with most saying they would likely have fewer than they wanted, or none at all. The most common barriers were economic, with 39 per cent reporting that financial limitations affected or would affect their ability to realize their desired family size. Other significant barriers included a lack of partner support, low-quality sexual and reproductive health care, a lack of access to services like affordable childcare, and pessimism about the future. The polling surveyed 14,256 adults aged 18 to 88 from 14 countries including the U.S., South Korea, Italy and India between Nov. 15 and Dec. 5, 2024. It didn't mention a margin of error but said most data was nationally representative. While Canada wasn't surveyed, the authors note the sample of countries represents a third of the global population with a mix of incomes and fertility rates. Canadians face barriers, too Previous Statistics Canada data shows a similar trend, with people aged 15 to 49 reporting in 2022 that comparable issues, like affordability, could influence their fertility intentions. And 37 per cent of those polled said they did not believe they could afford to have a child in the next three years. "Many Canadians face structural constraints that prevent them from realizing their fertility aspirations," said Rania Tfaily, an associate professor at Carleton University who studies social demography. The topic recently came up during the federal election campaign when Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre mentioned that too many young people can't afford to buy homes before their "biological clocks" have run out. But while his wording struck a nerve, his supporters said he highlighted a real concern. In 2022, 32 per cent of Canadians aged 20 to 29 didn't believe they would have access to suitable housing to start a family in the next three years, according to Statistics Canada. WATCH | Why aren't Canadians having more kids?: Canada recorded its lowest-ever fertility rate for the second year in a row in 2023, according to Statistics Canada data, at 1.26 children born per woman. It joined the ranks of "lowest-low-fertility countries," including South Korea, Spain and Japan. Of course, it's not just a lack of choice driving the rate down — having fewer children is also seen as more desirable today, notes Lisa Strohschein, a sociology professor at the University of Alberta. Statistics Canada data, for instance, consistently reported between 1990 and 2006 that Canadian women intended to have just over two children, on average, Strohschein said. But the most recent estimates from 2022 now suggest the desired number of children overall is 1.5, and that gets even lower with the younger people surveyed. "At the same time, it is the case that women tend to have fewer children than they actually want — even as they want fewer children overall," she said. Reproductive agency goes both ways The UNFPA report emphasizes that reproductive rights go both ways, and so does the global fertility crisis. "It is a crisis in reproductive agency — in the ability of individuals to make their own free, informed and unfettered choices about everything from having sex to using contraception to starting a family," says the report. One in three respondents in the YouGov poll said they or their partner had experienced an unintended pregnancy, for instance, and nearly one in five said they felt pressured to have children when they didn't want to. This can have unintended consequences on the fertility rate, the report noted, especially when policymakers attempt to control reproductive autonomy. For instance, "bans on abortion can lead to individuals voluntarily or involuntarily forgoing reproduction," the report explained. WATCH | This is what an abortion ban looks like in Texas: A recent study looking at U.S. medical claims found that tubal sterilization and vasectomies increased in the U.S. after among participants ages 19 to 26 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. If we want people to achieve their desired family size, we need to move away from treating fertility as a means of controlling women's bodies, Strohschein said. Incentives don't work, but what does? Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump says he wants a baby boom, and has mulled incentives to try to convince more people to have children, including so-called baby bonuses. This week, he announced his plan to create tax-deferred investment accounts for babies born in the U.S. over the next four years, starting them each with $1,000, reported The Associated Press. Yet, as the UNFPA report notes, most incentives like this don't work, and can sometimes have the opposite effect. That's because they "are not creating the full range of enabling conditions that people say they need to have families," it states. So what would help people have more children — assuming that's what they want? "Guaranteed affordable and high-quality childcare for all," said Carleton University's Tfaily, as well as economic policies that could reduce people's financial stress, like better worker benefits and more stable jobs. Strohschein had similar suggestions, like making it easier for mothers to return to work after having a baby, as well as affordable childcare. However, "we still have not been all that successful in Canada with either of these two policy levers," she said. "It will be interesting to see whether our national childcare program can change this in the years to come."
CBC
2 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Why don't people want more kids? That's the wrong question, says a new global report
Why aren't people having more kids? What we should actually be asking, according to a new global report, is why so many people feel like they can't. It's often assumed that low fertility rates are due to people simply not wanting to have children, or more than one or two, but a report released Tuesday from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says that's not the whole picture. "Vast numbers of people are unable to create the families they want," said Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA's executive director, in a news release. That lack of choice "is the real fertility crisis," she said, "and the answer lies in responding to what people say they need: paid family leave, affordable fertility care and supportive partners." The UNFPA report included polling by YouGov. About one in five of the reproductive-aged adults surveyed in 14 different countries said they won't be able to have the number of children they would like, with most saying they would likely have fewer than they wanted, or none at all. The most common barriers were economic, with 39 per cent reporting that financial limitations affected or would affect their ability to realize their desired family size. Other significant barriers included a lack of partner support, low-quality sexual and reproductive health care, a lack of access to services like affordable childcare, and pessimism about the future. The polling surveyed 14,256 adults aged 18 to 88 from 14 countries including the U.S., South Korea, Italy and India between Nov. 15 and Dec. 5, 2024. It didn't mention a margin of error but said most data was nationally representative. While Canada wasn't surveyed, the authors note the sample of countries represents a third of the global population with a mix of incomes and fertility rates. Canadians face barriers, too Previous Statistics Canada data shows a similar trend, with people aged 15 to 49 reporting in 2022 that comparable issues, like affordability, could influence their fertility intentions. And 37 per cent of those polled said they did not believe they could afford to have a child in the next three years. "Many Canadians face structural constraints that prevent them from realizing their fertility aspirations," said Rania Tfaily, an associate professor at Carleton University who studies social demography. The topic recently came up during the federal election campaign when Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre mentioned that too many young people can't afford to buy homes before their "biological clocks" have run out. But while his wording struck a nerve, his supporters said he highlighted a real concern. In 2022, 32 per cent of Canadians aged 20 to 29 didn't believe they would have access to suitable housing to start a family in the next three years, according to Statistics Canada. Canada recorded its lowest-ever fertility rate for the second year in a row in 2023, according to Statistics Canada data, at 1.26 children born per woman. It joined the ranks of "lowest-low-fertility countries," including South Korea, Spain and Japan. Of course, it's not just a lack of choice driving the rate down — having fewer children is also seen as more desirable today, notes Lisa Strohschein, a sociology professor at the University of Alberta. Statistics Canada data, for instance, consistently reported between 1990 and 2006 that Canadian women intended to have just over two children, on average, Strohschein said. But the most recent estimates from 2022 now suggest the desired number of children overall is 1.5, and that gets even lower with the younger people surveyed. "At the same time, it is the case that women tend to have fewer children than they actually want — even as they want fewer children overall," she said. Reproductive agency goes both ways The UNFPA report emphasizes that reproductive rights go both ways, and so does the global fertility crisis. "It is a crisis in reproductive agency — in the ability of individuals to make their own free, informed and unfettered choices about everything from having sex to using contraception to starting a family," says the report. One in three respondents in the YouGov poll said they or their partner had experienced an unintended pregnancy, for instance, and nearly one in five said they felt pressured to have children when they didn't want to. This can have unintended consequences on the fertility rate, the report noted, especially when policymakers attempt to control reproductive autonomy. For instance, "bans on abortion can lead to individuals voluntarily or involuntarily forgoing reproduction," the report explained. WATCH | This is what an abortion ban looks like in Texas: This is what an abortion ban looks like in Texas 2 years ago Duration 8:27 Texas effectively banned abortion after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. CBC's Ellen Mauro travelled to the state to see how people are navigating the restrictions and preparing for them to get worse. A recent study looking at U.S. medical claims found that tubal sterilization and vasectomies increased in the U.S. after among participants ages 19 to 26 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. If we want people to achieve their desired family size, we need to move away from treating fertility as a means of controlling women's bodies, Strohschein said. Incentives don't work, but what does? Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump says he wants a baby boom, and has mulled incentives to try to convince more people to have children, including so-called baby bonuses. This week, he announced his plan to create tax-deferred investment accounts for babies born in the U.S. over the next four years, starting them each with $1,000, reported The Associated Press. Yet, as the UNFPA report notes, most incentives like this don't work, and can sometimes have the opposite effect. That's because they "are not creating the full range of enabling conditions that people say they need to have families," it states. So what would help people have more children — assuming that's what they want? "Guaranteed affordable and high-quality childcare for all," said Carleton University's Tfaily, as well as economic policies that could reduce people's financial stress, like better worker benefits and more stable jobs. Strohschein had similar suggestions, like making it easier for mothers to return to work after having a baby, as well as affordable childcare. However, "we still have not been all that successful in Canada with either of these two policy levers," she said. "It will be interesting to see whether our national childcare program can change this in the years to come."
Fast Company
4 days ago
- Health
- Fast Company
1 in 5 people are having fewer children due to fear of the future: UN
Falling fertility rates typically get blamed on the women of the world. But a new study published by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says both men and women 'face significant barriers to realizing their fertility aspirations.' It's not that they don't want to have children—rather, they just aren't able to in the ways they want to. According to the report, barriers in political discourse, healthcare policies, financial instability, and climate change are some of the leading causes for globally declining birth rates, and furthermore, they prevent many from realizing their preferred child status. 'The evidence is clear: We are moving from a world of rapid population expansion, in the mid-20th Century, to a period of declining fertility rates,' Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA said. UNFPA partnered with YouGov to ask 14,000 people across 14 countries what they want for their reproductive futures and why. According to the report, nearly 1 in 5 participants cited fears of the future affecting their decisions to have fewer children than desired, including concerns about climate change, environmental degradation, wars, and pandemics. Meanwhile, 39% reported financial limitations affecting their decisions. The countries included in the study represent a third of the world population, and include North Korea (the country with the lowest fertility rate), Nigeria (the country with the highest fertility rate), and the U.S. (somewhere in the middle). All participants' reasons behind their reproductive status were divided into five factors: Health, including infertility and a lack of medical care Economic, including unemployment and housing situations Changed desires, including partner or personal decisions Concerns over future, including political or climate concerns Other, including lack of partner or societal pressure 'It is hard to escape the conclusion that these concerns—which certainly warrant policy responses—are rooted in outdated notions around who should be reproducing and why, and the notion that the achievement of a country's preferred birth rate will ensure economic and political security,' Dr. Kanem said.
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Ogbonge UN report wey chook eye for Nigeria, South Africa and oda countries, reveal why fertility rates dey go down
One new report by di United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), don warn of a global norm wia fertility rates dey go down. Di agency don take dia strongest line yet on fertility decline, warning say hundreds of millions of pipo no dey able to get di number of children dem want, citing di very high cost of parenthood and di lack of a suitable partner as some of di reasons. UNFPA survey 14,000 pipo in 14 countries about dia fertility intentions. One in five say dem never get or expect say dem go get dia desired number of children. Di countries dem survey na - South Korea, Thailand, Italy, Hungary, Germany, Sweden, Brazil, Mexico, US, India, Indonesia, Morocco, South Africa, and Nigeria - wey account for a third of di global population. Dem include a mix of low, middle and high-income countries and those with low and high fertility. UNFPA also survey young adults and those wey don pass dia reproductive years. "Di world don begin see an unprecedented decline in fertility rates," na so Dr Natalia Kanem, head of UNFPA tok. "Most of di pipo we survey want two or more children. Fertility rates dey fall in large part becos many feel say dem dey unable to create di families dem want. And dat na di real crisis," she tok. Social and economic barriers, not choice, na im dey drive global fertility crisis: UNFPA Di UN Population Fund (UNFPA) wen dem unveil dia flagship State of World Population report on Tuesday, warn say a rising number of pipo dey denied di freedom to start families due to skyrocketing living costs, persistent gender inequality, and deepening uncertainty about di future. Di report argue say wetin really dey threat na pipo ability to choose freely wen – and weda – dem go get children. Di report rely on a recent UNFPA/YouGov survey wey cover14 countries wey togeda represent 37 per cent of di global population. So of di reasons dem identify include: Money worries Economic barriers na di top factor, with 39 per cent of respondents wey cite financial limitations as di main reason for having fewer children dan dem go like. Fear for di future – from climate change to war – and job insecurity follow, cited by 19 per cent and 21 per cent of respondents, respectively. Thirteen per cent of women and eight per cent of men point to di unequal division of domestic labour as a factor wey make dem get fewer children dan desired. Di survey also reveal say one in three adults don experience an unintended pregnancy, one in four feel unable to have a child at dia preferred time and one in five report say dem dey under pressure to have children wey dem no want. Fertility crisis Di report warn against simplistic and oda responses to falling birth rates, such as baby bonuses or fertility targets, wey no dey work most times and e dey risk violating human rights. Instead, UNFPA dey ask goments to expand choices by removing barriers to parenthood wey dia populations don identify. Recommended actions include to make parenthood more affordable through beta investments in housing, decent work, paid parental leave and access to comprehensive reproductive health services. Immigration factor Di agency also dey encourage goments to view immigration as a key strategy to address labour shortages and maintain economic productivity inside dis declining fertility. Regarding gender inequality, di report dey call for addressing stigma against involved fathers, workplace norms wey dey push mothers out of di workforce, restrictions on reproductive rights, and di widening gender gaps in attitudes among younger generations wey also dey contribute to rising singlehood. Di survey, wey be pilot for research in 50 countries later dis year, dey limited in dia scope. Wen e comes to age groups within countries for example, di sample sizes dey too small to make conclusions. But some findings dey clear. In all countries, 39% of pipo say financial limitations don prevent dem from having a child. Di highest response na for Korea (58%), di lowest na for Sweden (19%). In total, only 12% of pipo cite infertility - or difficulty in conceiving - as a reason for not having di number of children dem want. But dat figure dey higher in countries including Thailand (19%), di US (16%), South Africa (15%), Nigeria (14%) and India (13%). "Dis na di first time wey [di UN] don really go all-out on low fertility issues," na so Prof Stuart Gietel-Basten, demographer for Hong Kong University of Science and Technology tok. Until recently, di agency bin dey focus heavily on women wey get more children than dem want and di "unmet need" for contraception. Still, di UNFPA dey ask for caution in response to low fertility. "Right now, wetin we dey see na a lot of rhetoric of catastrophe, either overpopulation or shrinking population, wey dey lead to dia kind of exaggerated response, and sometimes a manipulative response," Dr Kanem tok. "In terms of trying to get women to have more children, or fewer." She point out say 40 years ago China, Korea, Japan, Thailand and Turkey all bin dey worried say dia populations dey too high. But by 2015, dem want to boost fertility. "We want try as far as possible to avoid those countries starting any kind of panicky policies," Prof Gietel-Basten tok. "We dey see how dem dey use low fertility, population ageing, population stagnation as an excuse to implement nationalist, anti-migrant policies and gender conservative policies," e tok. UNFPA find say one even bigger barrier to children dan finances na lack of time. For many women wey dey hustle for busy cities and dey do different kind of jobs, dat na true.
Sky News
4 days ago
- Health
- Sky News
Birth rates are plummeting worldwide - but it's not because people don't want kids anymore
Two in five people over 50 say they have not had as many children as they wanted - with economic issues, health concerns and fears about the state of the world among the main barriers. More than half said financial factors such as affordable housing, childcare options and job security were things that had limited, or would limit, their ability to grow their families. One in four said health issues were holding them back, while a fifth of respondents mentioned fears about global issues including climate change, wars and pandemics. The findings come from a new survey of over 14,000 people by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) - spanning 14 countries on five continents that are home to a third of the world's population. Birth rates have been declining across almost all regions of the world, while life expectancy continues to grow. There are concerns, from politicians and commentators like Elon Musk, that future generations of working age people will find it more difficult to economically support people of pension age as the ratio of workers to pensioners shifts. "Vast numbers of people are unable to create the families they want," said Dr Natalia Kanem, executive director of the UNFPA. "The issue is lack of choice, not desire, with major consequences for individuals and societies. That is the real fertility crisis, and the answer lies in responding to what people say they need: paid family leave, affordable fertility care, and supportive partners." Differences around the world The survey was carried out in four European countries, four in Asia, three across Africa and three from the Americas. The countries were picked to try and represent "a wide variety of countries with different cultural contexts, fertility rates and policy approaches", according to the report's editor Dr Rebecca Zerzan. It includes, for example, the country with the lowest fertility rate in the world - South Korea. It also includes country with a birth rate among the highest in the world, which also happens to be the most populous country in its continent - Nigeria. The others, in order of population size, are India, the US, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, Thailand, South Africa, Italy, Morocco, Sweden and Hungary. In many cases there were significant differences in responses depending on which country people were reporting from. For example in Nigeria, a third of men (although only 21% of women) reported that they wanted to have four or more children. The numbers were similar in South Africa. However in South Korea, Thailand, Italy, Germany and Hungary, no more than 5% agreed. Fertility issues were twice as likely in the US (16% of respondents) as in neighbouring Mexico (8%). In South Korea, three in five respondents reported financial limitations as an obstacle. But in Sweden, where both men and women are entitled to 480 days of paid parental leave per child (which can also be transferred to grandparents), fewer than one in five said the same. Birth rates in Sweden are still among the lowest in the world, however. Dr Zerzan told Sky News that this shows that no one factor alone contributes to people feeling empowered to have children at the right time. "A third of people in Sweden say they think raising a child will take up too much time and energy. And a higher number of people there, compared with other countries, are also concerned about climate change and bringing a child in to an uncertain world." Unintended pregnancies vs not as many children as wanted A curious finding from the survey is that, while there has been much discussion around declining fertility rates, almost a third of people said they or their partner had experienced an unintended pregnancy. Globally, as people who become pregnant unintentionally often do so more than once, half of all pregnancies are unintended. In Morocco and South Africa, around half of people had experience of an unintended pregnancy. In the same two countries, more than half of people had experience of being unable to have a child at their preferred time. Overall, one in eight people had experienced both an unintended pregnancy and barriers to a desired child. "Everywhere we look, people are struggling to freely realise their reproductive aspirations," explains the report. People who had more children than they wanted, and people who had fewer, were present in countries with high and low fertility rates. "That indicates that barriers to achieving one's ideal family are ubiquitous." What can be done to help? The report says that the crisis does require political interventions, but warns against policies that often amount to short-term fixes, or those designed to coerce people to either use or not use contraception. "Whether the policies are coercive or not, there are real risks to treating fertility rates as a faucet to be turned on or off. Many of the countries that are today seeking to increase fertility have, within the last 40 years, sought to decrease birth rates. "For example, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Thailand and Türkiye all reported in 1986 an intention to lower their national fertility rates through policy interventions, deeming their respective fertility rates at that time as 'too high'. By 2015, however, all five countries had switched to policies designed to boost fertility. "Today all five have total fertility rates below two children per woman."
