Published on: 2026-07-08
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
7 July 2026 Sustainable Development Goals
Contrary to common belief, young people around the world still aspire to start a family. However, economic difficulties, primarily lack of money and housing unaffordability, increasingly prevent them from realizing these plans. This is evidenced by the results of a new global study published by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
More than 108,000 internet users aged 18 to 39 from 73 countries or territories participated in the survey. This is one of the largest international studies dedicated to how young people envision their future related to family and having children.
The main obstacle is economic instability
Regardless of the region of the world, respondents named almost the same reasons preventing them from starting a family and having children. At the top were financial instability and housing problems.
UNFPA believes that this data refutes many widespread myths about the causes of declining birth rates.
Myth: Due to the spread of feminism, women no longer want to have children
In social networks and media, the decline in birth rates is often explained by women’s empowerment and the rise in the popularity of feminism. However, research results indicate the opposite: the vast majority of women, as well as men, still want to have children. In most countries, respondents named two as the ideal number of children.
The UN agency emphasizes that despite perceptions of the entrenchment of feminism, women often still cannot control their own bodies and make independent decisions regarding reproduction.
Moreover, according to the survey, women are more likely than men to consider almost all possible obstacles to having children – from financial difficulties to health problems and infertility. According to the researchers, this does not indicate an unwillingness to have children, but rather that women feel the associated difficulties to a greater extent.
Myth: young people are refusing marriage
Another common stereotype is that the new generation supposedly does not aspire to marriage and parenthood at all. However, more than two-thirds of survey participants named marriage as the ideal form of relationship, and almost 80 percent believe that one must first find a permanent partner, and only then have children.
At the same time, about one in four respondents aged 25 to 39 admitted that they would like to have a partner but are currently single and not in a relationship. Men reported this more often than women.
The main obstacles to starting a family, according to 57 percent of survey participants, were once again economic problems and the lack of affordable housing.
Myth: declining teenage birth rates are a cause for concern
UNFPA also rejects the view that reducing the number of pregnancies among teenagers poses a threat to society.
By contrast, experts consider the decline in teenage birth rates to be an important public health achievement. Thanks to this, more girls are able to finish school and avoid health risks associated with early pregnancy. At the same time, many of them later still become mothers.
The authors emphasize that the task of states is not to persuade people to have children earlier, but to create conditions that allow them to become parents when they themselves consider it appropriate.
According to the study, young people consider financial stability, steady employment, as well as psychological and emotional readiness to be the most important conditions for having a child.
Myth: young people are too selfish and need financial motivation to start a family
The study also refutes the notion that young people do not want children due to selfishness or insufficient financial incentives. The most common reason respondents wanted to become parents was the happiness and joy that children bring.
Most survey participants are already raising children. Among those who had not yet become parents by ages 35–39, 79 percent of men and 72 percent of women stated that they would still like to have children in the future.
At the same time, factors such as government incentives or the need to have children for the future workforce turned out to be among the least significant motives.
Politics must be based on the real needs of the people
UNFPA emphasizes that the study’s results suggest a more constructive approach to demographic policy.
Instead of speculating about the reasons for declining birth rates or attempting to change the views of young people, states should remove the barriers that citizens themselves identify as primary: providing affordable housing, stable employment, quality education, healthcare services, and support for young families. Only in this way, the UN agency believes, can people realize their family plans on their own terms.
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