Over the past decade, the number of babies born in rich countries has fallen. But have people also started wanting fewer children? A recent one study from the University of Helsinki checked this and found that among different groups of people born at different times, the ideal number of children they want to have has also decreased. This was especially true for those born between 1985 and 1994.
Researchers looked at studies conducted between 2007 and 2018 by a group called Väestöliitto, a family association in Finland. They spoke to men and women aged 20 to 45 from five groups born in different years: 1970–1974, 1975–1979, 1980–1984, 1985–1989 and 1990–1994. The participants indicated how many children they would most like to have. The researchers then compared these figures for people of the same age but from different time periods (such as comparing 30-year-olds from the 1970s with 30-year-olds from more recent years). Some interesting patterns emerged.
Want fewer children
“The key finding was that people from more recent birth cohorts had a lower ideal number of children compared to people from earlier cohorts,” the researchers explain.
The reason we wanted fewer children was that more people born after 1985 preferred not to have children at all. Of men aged 25 who were born between 1985 and 1989 and of men born between 1990 and 1994, 25% and 26% respectively say they do not want children.
This contrasts with only 4% and 5% of men aged 25 born between 1975 and 1979, and between 1980 and 1984. Similar trends were seen among women: 22% and 21% of women in the later groups did not want children, while only 2% and 9% of those born in 1975–1979 and 1980–1984 felt the same way.
The researchers also looked at whether the reason for wanting fewer children might have to do with the financial uncertainty caused by the economic crisis in 2008.
“Although some associations were found between education, income and employment status and the ideal number of children, differences in the ideal number of children between birth cohorts remained highly significant,” the authors explain.
Cultural change
This suggests that the reason people want fewer children is likely due to larger cultural changes, and not just the temporary impact of the 2008 economic crisis.
Overall, the research shows that the way people think about having children and families in Finland has changed. Even if they haven’t looked at it directly, the fact that more people don’t want to have children may have to do with larger changes in society. And this could be a reason why fewer babies are being born in Finland.
“Modern life has changed traditional life paths in which having children was a given. Freedom of choice can increase conscious decisions about childlessness, but also uncertainty about parenthood,” the authors conclude.
