The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) issued a report analyzing the stark decline in fertility rates worldwide and recommended “reproductive agency” as the solution, receiving pushback from numerous experts. The document, titled “The Real Fertility Crisis: The Pursuit of Reproductive Agency in a Changing World,” is based on a survey of more than 14,000 reproductive-age adults in 14 countries.
The study found that about 39% of the respondents who want children said financial limitations affected their family size, and 19% cited fears about the future as contributing to their expectation of having fewer children. While the report acknowledges the generalized decline in fertility rates across the world, it does not view this as inherently problematic, stating that the “real crisis” is that people are experiencing difficulties having the number of children they desire. The UNFPA even goes as far as to criticize those who are concerned over declining fertility rates for engaging in “alarmism over population collapse.”
“When we ask the right questions, we can see both the problem and solution clearly. The answer lies in reproductive agency, a person’s ability to make free and informed choices about sex, contraception and starting a family – if, when and with whom they want,” the report mentions. As to how we can promote “reproductive agency”, the UNFPA endorses, unsurprisingly, more sex education in schools, increased access to contraceptives and abortion, adoptions by homosexual couples, access to assisted reproductive technology, and the dismantling of traditional “gender roles.”
The full report is available here. To know more about why experts have criticized it, you can read an article by the Catholic News Agency here.