Millions of people are unable to have the number of children they want. This is not because they are rejecting parenthood. Economic and social barriers are stopping them. In its report, The Real Fertility Crisis: The Pursuit of Reproductive Agency in a Changing World, the UNFPA warns that reproductive freedom, not population decline, is the world’s real fertility crisis today.
People do not lack the desire to parent. Instead, they are increasingly shut out of family life by forces beyond their control. Surveying 14 countries with 37% of Earth’s population, the UNFPA found unmet aspirations to start families span cultures and continents.
The report’s core message is clear. People aren’t having fewer children by choice. The reason is that choice is being taken from them.
UNFPA’s global survey found 20% of people can’t meet their desired number of children. Life has simply become unaffordable. Financial insecurity topped all barriers, with 39% blaming living costs, housing shortages, and expensive child care for suppressing family plans.
Uncertainty about the future—wars, climate collapse, political upheaval—was a factor for 19% of people surveyed across the 14 nations. Twenty-one percent reported unstable job conditions as another deterrent to starting or growing a family under current global economic pressures.
Domestic dynamics also played a role: women are still expected to bear the household burden alongside childrearing and work obligations. Thirteen percent of women mentioned unequal division of domestic labor as a reason for shrinking family hopes. Eight percent of men also cited this reason.
These trends span borders. They show that parenthood is increasingly a privilege, not a universal right. This is especially true for working-class and marginalized groups.
PEOPLE STILL WANT FAMILIES—BUT FEAR THEY CAN’T AFFORD TO START THEM
Contrary to the global panic over youth turning away from parenthood, the data show the opposite: most people still dream of parenting. Over half of all respondents said they wanted two or more children. However, they lacked the means or stability to make it happen.
In many countries, government policies like baby bonuses or tax breaks fail to address structural reasons. People delay or avoid having kids for these reasons. High rent, inflation, and long working hours are pushing potential parents to shelve their dreams—not reject them out of apathy.
Governments calling for more babies often ignore that without better infrastructure, housing, and job security, people cannot raise children safely. Recruiting more women into the workforce, experts say, would ease both fertility worries and workforce shortages—but only with gender-equal conditions. Today’s fertility crisis is not about biological unwillingness, but economic unavailability—making reproduction a luxury some just can’t afford.
UNWANTED PREGNANCIES AND SOCIAL PRESSURE STILL SHAPE REPRODUCTIVE DECISIONS
While some can’t have children, many have children they didn’t want due to pressure, lack of choice, or misinformation. A third of adults surveyed said they or their partners had experienced unintended pregnancies that disrupted their lives and futures.
Twenty percent of respondents reported feeling pressured to have children before they were ready. Some of them did not want children at all. A quarter of men could not decline sex that resulted in unintended pregnancies. One-third of women also experienced this issue.
In Nigeria, the average woman has five children. However, 10% expect to exceed their own ideal family size due to social pressure. Access to family planning remains a serious issue. This is especially true in places where contraception is poorly understood. It is also a problem where it is actively discouraged by partners. Healthcare worker Talatu Yakubu in Abuja says myths hinder many women from accessing birth control. Male dominance further limits their ability to receive health education.
“Men need to come with their wives for counseling,” she said. “Without shared decisions and facts, women cannot control their futures.”
WHY INCENTIVE PROGRAMS AND RESTRICTIVE LAWS FAIL TO RAISE FERTILITY RATES
Governments across the globe are responding to declining birth rates with pro-natalist incentives like child bonuses and subsidized childcare programs. The UNFPA warns that such approaches often ignore people’s real needs. Instead, they create a patchwork of ineffective quick fixes.
Worse, some governments introduce coercive or restrictive laws—banning abortion or limiting sex education—which further erode reproductive rights and bodily autonomy. History shows these policies often backfire. They do not increase birth rates. Instead, they cause more harm and raise health risks for parents.
Banning abortion doesn’t increase families—it raises maternal mortality and unsafe medical procedures, causing trauma and long-term health complications. Real support for parenthood must include full access to sexual education, contraception, and the freedom to say no to parenting.
Efforts that deny reproductive rights don’t build families—they erode the foundations needed to make parenthood safe, chosen, and joyful.
TRUE SOLUTIONS LIE IN JUSTICE, SUPPORT SYSTEMS, AND REPRODUCTIVE INCLUSION
UNFPA’s findings emphasize one truth. The root of today’s fertility crisis is a lack of reproductive agency. It is not about population control or personal apathy. Nearly 25% of respondents said they had wanted a child at some point but were unable due to health, infertility, or access barriers.
Marginalized communities—migrants, disabled people, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and ethnic minorities—face even steeper hurdles to family-building and medical support.
Healthcare gaps remain vast, especially around fertility services and adoption policies, which are often exclusionary or discriminatory in many global regions. Workplace inequality also blocks parenthood: without flexibility, parental leave, and equal pay, many defer or abandon plans to raise children.
Removing stigma around male participation in childcare and expanding family roles to single and non-traditional parents could expand access to parenting. Importantly, respecting people who choose not to have children is part of reproductive justice—they deserve protection from pressure or shame.
Parenthood must be a right, not a mandate; a possibility for all, not a burden for a few.
POLICY MUST BEGIN WITH LISTENING: PEOPLE KNOW WHAT THEY NEED
Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA’s Executive Director, summed up the core solution in one phrase: “This is about denied opportunity—not declining desire.” She advocates for paid family leave, accessible fertility services, and partner-inclusive reproductive care that empowers people to choose freely.
UNFPA urges leaders to stop chasing numbers and start building policies rooted in lived experience, equity, and the voices of the excluded. When choice, not coercion, drives family growth, children are born into more stable, safe, and loving environments.
Governments must shift from panic-driven responses to people-first planning, where every family path—parenting or not—is honored and supported. The crisis isn’t just statistical—it’s deeply human. Every blocked pregnancy, forced birth, or abandoned family dream has lasting societal costs.
REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM IS THE REAL FUTURE FERTILITY POLICY
This is not a crisis of declining numbers—it is a crisis of failed systems that rob people of their right to parenthood. People want to build families—but they need a world where that dream isn’t punished by poverty, gender bias, or institutional neglect.
Hope must replace pressure. Equity must replace incentive gimmicks. Rights must replace outdated fears about declining population. When people believe in their futures, they invest in the future. That’s when families flourish—through freedom, not force.