Why more Australian women than ever are choosing not to have children.
A record number of Australians are having fewer children, and having them later in life, according to new data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
This shift comes as more young people are reaching milestones such as moving out of home, achieving economic independence, and getting married or settling into long-term de facto relationships, later than previous generations.
According to the most recent data, nearly 60 per cent of births are to mothers aged 30-39, compared to just 20 per cent of mothers back in 1975.
The total fertility rate has also steadily declined over past decades, with the ABS predicting that sometime in the next 10 years the number of couples without children will overtake the number of couples with.
For 28-year-old Brisbane woman, Amy, she decided to not have kids when she was 24.
“I spent a lot of my teens looking after my 4 younger siblings who were all under 10 at the time. Just going through that experience was enough for me,” she says.
“I know everyone says it’s different when it’s your kids, but giving up my life to look after and raise a child just isn’t something I see myself wanting, not just now but also in the future.”
Marriage and family therapist, Ann Davidman, has spent the last 30 years helping people decide whether or not to have children.
Ms Davidman says fear of losing identity and freedom is a common concern amongst her clients.
“There’s this unspoken message we have in our society that expects everyone should just want to have children,” she said.
“In reality, life is a lot more complicated and factors like age, health, career, and relationship status, all play a part.
“Some people want to make an informed and conscious decision on whether or not to have children… Knowing what you actually want is the real freedom of choice.”
The future environmental dangers due to climate change and the current political landscape are also factoring into women choosing not to have children.
30-year-old Sydney woman Elise is concerned about the ethical dilemma of bringing children into today’s world.
“It feels really unethical for me to have a child considering the state of the world today,” she says.
“There’s a climate emergency happening, I don’t want to bring a child into a world where everything’s dying.
“The future just looks so dark and bleak right now. I don’t want to bring a child into the world who won’t be able to buy a house and will have to experience the environmental ruin predicted to happen in the future.”
Dr Carla Pascoe Leahy from the Maternal Futures project has found in her research a growing number of Australian women feel unsure and worry about what kind of future their potential children may have.
“We’re already seeing more and more women deciding to abandon or postpone their desire to have children,” Dr Pascoe Leahy said.
“Australian women are reconsidering what the best ways to raise a child in a climate crisis are.
“The uncertainty of the future has the potential to significantly impact parenting practices if natural disasters become more common occurrences in everyday life.”
But for 34-year-old Toowoomba woman Casey, choosing not to have children came as a result of her family history with chronic health conditions.
“There’s a lot of hereditary health issues in my family. I myself have chronic pain issues so not only would conceiving and carrying a healthy pregnancy be more difficult for me, but the day-to-day caring for a child would be dramatically more challenging for me as someone with a chronic illness,” she says.
“I don’t feel it’s fair to potentially pass on these health conditions to someone else. For me, the risk is too great.”
Sociology professor, Susan Kelly, from The University of Exeter in the UK has researched extensively the link between choosing to be childfree and potential hereditary health risks.
“Physical and mental hereditary health concerns pose complicated dilemmas for people choosing whether or not they should have a child,” Ms Kelly says.
“Going through genetic testing and the IVF process can be extremely taxing… It’s ultimately up to the individual to decide what risk they are willing to take and what is best for them.”
The long-held assumption that having children is the next logical step in adult life is a trend that is slowly declining from the reality of our society today.
The choice some women make to be childfree is multifaceted and representative of the changing opportunities offered to women in the modern age.
