A woman in her 30s has shed light on the reality that many Australians never intend to become parents. While perhaps unsurprising, it’s a controversial and, some say, worrying trend, highlighted by the data.
Australian women are having fewer children as they get older, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, a trend that has worried demographic experts and policymakers alike. Some young Australians who declare they plan to avoid parenthood say their decision is often met with downright bewilderment from strangers.
Gold Coast woman Karina Irby revealed this week that a stranger had a “provoking” reaction when she confessed that she and her husband had no plans to have children. The 33-year-old business owner said the stranger assumed she “must have kids”. But after correcting her, Irby said she “could see the colour drain from her face”.
“She didn’t really know why,” Irby said in a TikTok video, saying the exchange started as “friendly small talk” and then turned to the topic of children after the woman “realized” she was married.
Irby, 33, reportedly asked the woman “What are you going to do with your life without having children?” before claiming that she would be “disappointed” in his decision later on because she would have no one to “take care of you” when she got older.
“I would never choose to have children just so that they would be taken care of when I’m older,” Irby said in the video.
What is Australia’s current birth rate?
In the early 2000s, then-Treasurer Peter Costello introduced the “baby bonus,” a set of tax incentives to encourage Australians to prioritize having children. The scheme helped to raise Australia’s fertility rate above 2.1 (births per woman), the government’s target for the “replacement rate.”
However, in 2020, Australia’s total fertility rate hit a record low of 1.59, and although it rose slightly to 1.71 in 2021, it fell again the following year to 1.63 and has remained there ever since.
“The current birth rate is falling and is really low in Australian history,” ABS demographic director Phil Browning recently told the ABC.
Experts fear that if this trend continues, Australia will face major challenges from an ageing population and a shortage of the workforce to support it.
Why fewer Australians are starting families
Rising living costs, a housing shortage and an increase in dual-income households are said to be factors in why Australians are having fewer children. The allure of freedom, uncertainty and life balance are also reasons why women are choosing not to have children, and Irby and others have raised these issues on social media.
According to a study from the University of Canberra, the cost of raising a child for each year until adulthood ranges from $13,166 to $30,472, for a total of $474,000 to $1,097,000 over its lifetime. Additionally, a University of Melbourne study found that the birth of a first child reduces household income by an average of 16-18%, and double that for single-parent families.
‘Ridiculous’ response to women who don’t want children
Like Irby, fitness influencer Laura Henshaw also admitted that the question of whether she wants kids is “incredibly meaningful,” and that she’s been getting this question, or something similar, quite a lot lately. Speaking on popular podcast Kicpod, Henshaw, 31, admitted that she doesn’t know if she and her husband want to have kids, and said the response she often gets is “ridiculous.”
“This question is loaded with meaning, but the answers can be disappointing. I’ve spoken to over 1,000 women who have confided to friends and family that they don’t know if they want children, and they’ve been told, ‘It’s temporary.'” [or] “You’ll change your mind,’ that’s a stupid thing to say,” she said.
“These comments make me feel like there’s something ‘wrong’ about not wanting children from birth. I feel so embarrassed that I shouldn’t have children in the first place and don’t know that.”
Calling on the government to act now
Demographer Amanda Davies said she didn’t see Australia’s birth rates changing anytime soon unless the government acted now.
“There’s certainly concern in the community about Australians not having children and what that means for Australia and how that shapes it,” he said. [the country] “These things can have repercussions for a generation,” she told ABC.
Peter McDonald, from the University of Melbourne, called for better work and family policies to “raise fertility rates” by improving parental welfare.
“We need to closely monitor the number of children Australian women are having over the next few years to ensure we don’t fall into a low fertility trap,” he said.
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