The Most Common Reasons Not to Have Children Are Financial

A new survey by the UN Population Fund shows that the most common reasons people name for not having more children are financial in nature. Among 14 countries surveyed, respondents named financial limitations or job instability as the most common reasons to have fewer children than they desired in all. Commonly, financial reasons, also including housing and childcare costs, made up the top 2 or even top 3 of the issues most often cited for lower fertility, for example in India, Indonesia, South Korea, South Africa, Brazil, Morocco, Hungary and Germany.

In South Korea, the country with the lowest fertility rate in the world, many respondents agreed that the cost of childrearing was prohibitive. In developing countries, common and mostly financial reasons for limiting family size were shared among a large number of respondents, while in developed countries, these barriers were perceived as somewhat lower but still affecting many.

In Sweden, only 19 percent named financial limitations - still the most common answer. This was followed by lack of a suitable partners and infertility/problems conceiving. Lack of a partners or the partner wanting fewer children was more commonly found among the top 3 reasons to have fewer children in the Western world, even though it was also the third-most cited issue in South Africa. Brazil's top 3 reasons was concern about the social and political situation in the future, while in Morocco, this rank was occupied by chronic health conditions or poor health in general.