The World Birth Rate Is Now Dropping Precipitously

More on babies: Genetics Startup Advertises App-based Eugenics Service for Parents to Select “Smartest” Embryos

Jun 14, 2025 - 19:50

The World Birth Rate Is Now Dropping Precipitously

A new paper from the United Nations Population Fund has revealed that many people want more children but can't due to cost.

Whoever wrote in the Book of Genesis "be fruitful and multiply" never accounted for the cost of children these days, especially when you factor in expenses like college tuition, sports, tutors, clothes and childcare.

And that's one of the reasons why people are having less kids, according to new reporting from the BBC.

A new paper from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has revealed that one in five adults in 14 countries don't have, or think they won't have, their preferred number of children, the BBC reports. About 14,000 people from across a wide range of income levels were surveyed in countries including the United States, South Africa, South Korea and Italy.

"The world has begun an unprecedented decline in fertility rates," Natalia Kanem, UNFPA executive director, told the BBC. "Most people surveyed want two or more children. Fertility rates are falling in large part because many feel unable to create the families they want. And that is the real crisis."

This jives with dire statistics that 76 percent of the world — 155 countries out of 204 — will have far fewer children being born by 2050. All these negative fertility replacement rates will likely have drastic and difficult-to-predict impacts on society and the world economy — in a worst case perhaps approaching something like the grim futuristic movie "Children of Men."

The UNFPA report found that increased financial security would remove a lot of barriers to reproduction. Of those surveyed, "39 percent reported that financial limitations had affected or would affect their ability to realize their desired family size," the report read.

"The real solution to the crisis of reproductive agency we are facing is to build a more equitable, sustainable and caring world that supports individuals to have the families they aspire to," the report continues.

Other barriers to reproduction include that people feel their living expenses are too high, or that the world seems more dangerous or uncertain, especially in light of climate change and armed conflicts. (And that's without getting into the rise of AI, which industry leaders insist will soon take many human jobs.)

Hopefully we can solve this huge issue. Our future depends on it — and besides, babies are cute.

More on babies: Genetics Startup Advertises App-based Eugenics Service for Parents to Select “Smartest” Embryos

The post The World Birth Rate Is Now Dropping Precipitously appeared first on Futurism.