Women in European countries, especially in the south, are giving birth less and less
As BBC reports, 17-25% of women born in the first decade of the 20th century remained childless for various reasons – a shortage of men, many of whom died in World War I, emigration of young men from poor countries, and the impact of the economic crisis of 1929. Since then, according to French demographers, the birth rate graph in European countries has been a curve in the shape of the Latin letter U.
Childlessness reached very low levels among women born in the 1930s and 1940s. These were the parents of the baby boomer generation, which grew up in the favorable conditions of the post-war period with its near full employment and generous social benefits. In Eastern European countries, the baby boom lasted longer than in the West, facilitated by a shortage of contraceptives, which by then were already widespread in Western countries.
The increase in childlessness is especially noticeable in Greece, Italy, and Spain, where it exceeds 20% among women born in the early 1970s. In Western Europe, childlessness was highest in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland – around 20% among women born in 1968. Birth rates in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Russia after the collapse of the socialist bloc in 1989-1990 were higher than in other Central and Eastern European countries. Only 8% of women born in these countries in 1968 remain childless, which is much lower than the European average of 14%.
However, childlessness is beginning to rise among women born in the 1940s (in the West) and in the 1960s (in the East) due to the combined impact of various external and personal factors. As French demographers write, economic and cultural trends over the past 50 years have mainly encouraged childlessness.
The report notes that very few women plan to remain childless, and in most cases, the majority of childless women simply keep postponing the decision to have a child until it is too late. "Reliable contraception, later marriage, deciding to have a child at a more mature age, more fragile marriages, career demands and labor market instability, as well as general economic uncertainty contribute to childlessness," the authors of the report note.
Other factors include insufficient state support and persistent social stereotypes regarding the role of women in family life.
According to the authors of the report, childlessness will increase in the coming years, primarily in southern European countries, where up to a quarter of women born in the 1970s will not have children. Childlessness will also increase in Central and Eastern European countries.