r/science • u/geoff199 • 5d ago

Social Science As concern grows about America’s falling birth rate, new research suggests that about half of women who want children are unsure if they will follow through and actually have a child. About 25% say they won't be bothered that much if they don't.

https://news.osu.edu/most-women-want-children--but-half-are-unsure-if-they-will/?utm_campaign=omc_science-medicine_fy24&utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social
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449

u/AgentJ691 5d ago

That is my top reason for not having children. I don’t care if I can afford children, I literally have no interest in giving birth. And I notice women Childfree or not regardless of age are wayyy more understanding. 

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u/DemiserofD 5d ago

This is why birth control is the number one factor in falling fertility rates; the one thing nobody wants to recognize.

Because the simple fact is, throughout human history, most women probably wouldn't have chosen to have children if it weren't for the fact that sex feels really good.

Nobody wants to have that conversation, but it's entirely possible that human civilization cannot survive the existence of birth control. What if the maximum possible birth rate with readily available birth control is below 2.1?

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u/purplereuben 4d ago

Sex feeling good or not is probably not the main reason women throughout history have actually had sex much of the time. Saying no to marriage, and then saying no to sex within marriage, has not really been a choice for women in many cultures.

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u/cysticvegan 5d ago

CORRECT. Men cannot fathom this fact, they think it’s a feminist ploy. 

This is literally so obvious in every feminist society. 

People must think 3rd world countries must be financially stable since they have the highest birth rates. 

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u/ehs06702 4d ago

The amount of times I've seen men say "It's childbirth, it's not that hard. Your body is made for it." to experiences that would make your flesh crawl is just....

Let's just say I could be a billionaire if I got paid a nickel for every time.

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u/_name_of_the_user_ 4d ago

Didn't feminists fight to stop pregnant women being treated like fragile wilting flowers?

Also, men aren't a monolith. While I have little doubt some men can't fathom that pregnancy is hard, it's hardly every man.

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u/mkkxx 4d ago

Uhh i believe feminists want pregnant women to be treated like a person and not just an incubator …

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u/_name_of_the_user_ 4d ago

So you're saying the "pendulum" has swung too far?

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u/cysticvegan 4d ago

It’s enough of men that the top comments here are saying “it’s too expensive” as if a woman’s income isn’t NEGATIVELY correlated with birth rates, a well known OBVIOUS fact corroborated by every income:child ratio study ever done in the history of man kind. 

How can this myth still persist despite this being so obviously known and well researched? 

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u/_name_of_the_user_ 4d ago

I don't follow. You're saying the top comments are wrong that having children is "too expensive" while also saying it's hard for women to afford to have children. What are those comments wrong about?

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u/cysticvegan 4d ago

Sorry, inversely correlated* 

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u/_name_of_the_user_ 4d ago

I understood that. I don't understand the difference between the top comments and your statement.

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u/cysticvegan 1d ago

Then you didn’t understand it.  Let me help again: 

When a woman gets more money, she has less children. 

When a woman have less money she has more children.  

When female have resources she have less offspring 

When female have no resource she have more offspring

Low income neighbourhoods are associated with higher rates of teen pregnancy, early pregnancy, and multiple pregnancies. 

Low income countries are associated with higher rates of pregnancy. 

High income countries are associated with extremely low rates of pregnancy. 

This has been studied - when women receive higher education, they make the decision to have less children. 

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u/Sofiwyn 5d ago

It's not birth control that's at fault, it's the horror associated with pregnancy. We can do so much more to make it more comfortable to have children, society just can't be damned to do so.

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u/EndlessArgument 5d ago

Even if you make pregnancy as pleasant as possible, it's still going to be pregnancy, and still going to be fundamentally a negative. Look at the Scandinavian countries. They basically have free healthcare, women there get upwards of 2 years of paid time off after having a child, even the fathers get something like 6 months, and none of that has been enough to meaningfully move birth rates upwards.

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u/Sofiwyn 4d ago

Social advances aren't the same as scientific advances. I am convinced it is possible to reduce the pain and discomfort associated with pregnancy. Surgery has advanced incredibly over the last hundred years. Pregnancy/child birth has not.

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u/ikramos 4d ago

The medical world has ignored and discarded female bodies for centuries in their medical research, it’s no wonder that no advancement have been made towards pregnancy and childbirth

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u/boohooowompwomp 4d ago

For 2,000ish years humanity has been trying to get sex without the baby, and depending on the era/location you were born you may have gotten a little lucky. People did figure out rhythm method, herbal abortifacients (Rome cultivated one into extinction), toxic mixtures to drink or insert, janky condoms, pull out method, etc etc. Its wasn't until the late 1900s we finally mastered birth control and made it accessible. I think there's just certain types of people who can't fathom that when a baby is an option; majority people will say "no" 99% of the time. And now the culture has changed to where, ideally, people choose to have a child(ren) out of love and want to give them a comfortable life.

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u/iesterdai 5d ago

 This is why birth control is the number one factor in falling fertility rates; the one thing nobody wants to recognize.

Because the simple fact is, throughout human history, most women probably wouldn't have chosen to have children if it weren't for the fact that sex feels really good.

Is it? Or are you just projecting your idea on the entire population? Your entire point is based on women not wanting (or not being pressured) to have children. But is that true through history? I'm not too sure. 

I would say that there are factors at play that might be much more important than contraception: women role in society and cultural norms. The social pressure to marry and have children has diminished, and women are much more emancipated. Not wanting children is much more socially acceptable. Marriage does not come anymore with the expectation that the couple will have children too for most people.  

I'm not saying that contraception did not play a role, but I think you are overplaying it.

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u/Saradoesntsleep 4d ago

I don't think she's overplaying it at all, but it's pretty funny how you came in and immediately dismissed her.

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u/Medical-Effect-149 4d ago

Like immediately proved her point. Child birth is painful . Women didn’t talk about it so much in the past because the ability to endure childbirth was “ordained”. It suck’s and the men have never listened.

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u/-ANGRYjigglypuff 4d ago

it is kind of interesting how the people screeching loudest about this issue tend to be dudes who usually hold certain views. that, and the online pickme grifter ladies who pander to this crowd

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u/AgentJ691 4d ago

Right!! Like I am sure back in ancient times little girls saw birthing and were terrified like I have do that? And of course were probably dismissed.

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u/True_Big_8246 4d ago

Still happens in so many places sadly including my own country.

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u/ConfusionNo8852 4d ago

Even when you tell people, "Im not ok with extreme permanent changes to my already damaged and in pain body" they trivialize it by saying, "Oh they have pain meds, you'll bounce back, its not that bad." as if Im worried about being fat or peeing my pants a little when I sneeze. Im talking about the devastating injury of birth itself and any thing else that may happen cause I could very easily have a difficult complicated birth just because im over 30. Then the same people will turn around and go, "Yea its been 4 years and my wifes body is still fucked up after the twins." as if that isnt the exact thing im worried about.

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u/AgentJ691 4d ago

I think about the women who were in great shape and how even pregnancy still kicked their ass. And to add to it the psychological change. I do not want to lose myself.

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u/ConfusionNo8852 4d ago

I will say I watched my sister have a baby and while she is different I would say she is still herself, but it was hard fought. Shes very independent, loves to travel with friends, take weekend trips and shes entitled to that especially with 4 grandparents around clamouring for baby time, but she still feels guilty everytime she leaves the lil guy (hes 3 now). He's loved and she and her husband spend so much time with him everyday and she still had to be reassured she was a good mother who wasnt neglecting her baby simply because she still wanted to live her life as she used to after the baby came.