Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Why more women choosing to have fewer kids or none at all

In many countries fertility rates have fallen. Women are putting off having children, or not having any. Infertility is also on the rise, and in Asia there’s still a stigma about it – but attitudes are changing.
Sarah Fung is often told she would make a great mother, a comment that usually comes just after she tells people she is not having children.

“We never thought we needed children to complete us,” says British-born Fung, 45, who has been married for five years to her Austrian-born husband, Phillip. “My business and lifestyle give me purpose in life.”

Fung, who has called Hong Kong home for 13 years and is founder of Hula, an online platform for pre-owned designer clothes, says the decision whether to have children is always very personal. “It might be easier in a conversation to say that I couldn’t have children to avoid having to explain why I didn’t want them,” she says.

“The world’s population is way too big and some people have children for the wrong reasons,” Fung says. “In Asia, cultural pressure is also felt on children to look after their parents in old age and this is the reason many people bear children. This is great if it happens, but it should not be expected.”

Fung says some people are shocked when she tells them that she and her husband have decided not to have children. But the couple are not alone.

Birth and fertility rates are falling globally, whether through choice or out of necessity. In the United States, the number of babies born in 2018 fell to the lowest level in 31 years. A UK government report found the birth rate in England and Wales for the same year also hit a record low.

The birth rate continues to decline in the European Union, according to Eurostat data. In 2017, 5.1 million babies were born in the EU, 90,000 fewer than the year before.

East Asian countries are struggling with falling birth and fertility rates; in several nations they have dropped to record lows. In Singapore, the number of babies born in 2018 was the lowest in eight years, with women delaying childbirth until they are older, according to government statistics. The decline in South Korea’s fertility rate continued, to fewer than 1.2 children per woman of child-bearing age.

In China, a government study found that births in 2018 fell to their lowest since it relaxed its one-child policy in 2014, and Japan recorded its lowest birth rate since records began.

Figures from the Department of Health show Hong Kong’s birth rate fell 78 per cent between 1961 and 2017. The city’s fertility rate has been consistently below the replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman of child-bearing age for the past 36 years, and stood at 1.1 in 2017.

Paul Yip Siu-fai, chair professor of population health in the department of social work and social administration at the University of Hong Kong, says the number of children Hong Kong women have is not so much a choice but rather a compromise based on factors including work and availability of childcare support.

“To a certain extent, Hong Kong women are pragmatic and try to make a decision despite the many constraints,” says Yip.

The reasons for the trend of falling fertility rates are varied. More women are delaying having children, instead seeking higher education and fulfilling career paths.

Others are having no children or fewer children for social and economic reasons, deterred by the high cost of living and of raising children, job instability and lack of parental leave. And a growing number of couples are infertile.

Some people are choosing not to have children for environmental reasons, spawning campaigns such as BirthStrike, a group comprising people who are not having children because of climate change. Then there’s the #NoFutureNoChildren campaign that kicked off before last month’s United Nations Climate Change Summit in New York.

While most agree family size is a personal choice, the bigger picture has some governments concerned about the negative impact low birth rates can have on their country’s economy, the dwindling numbers adding to the pressure on those facing problems such as a shrinking labour pool and an ageing population.

On the one hand, a high birth rate can be a drain on resources. On the other hand, if birth rates are too low, countries may not have enough young workers to maintain productivity. Some countries have introduced incentives to raise birth rates. In Hungary, women with four children or more will be exempt from paying income tax for life, while Japan this year made preschool education free.

The global fertility rate has declined, but still stands at 2.4, meaning the world’s population continues to grow, according to the 2019 World Population Data Sheet, released by Population Reference Bureau (PRB), a non-profit that uses data to assist policymaking.

According to the PRB, the places with the lowest fertility rates are in South Korea (1.0), Singapore (1.1) and Taiwan (1.1).
Dr Ann Tan is medical director of the Virtus Fertility Centre in Singapore, which helps couples who are struggling to conceive.
“Asia is generally more conservative, and infertility is often not talked about openly – stigma still exists,” says Tan.

“However, we are seeing more of an open dialogue in recent years. More couples are willing to get tested, especially after a year of trying for a baby in vain, a general benchmark indicating possible fertility issues.”

Compared with the past, when women traditionally bore the stigma of infertility and childlessness, couples are now “more equal” in their approach, she says. “Culturally, this has been a difficult challenge to overcome – for the wider public perception to change that infertility can affect both males and females,” she says.

“It is heartening that there is more education and conversation around fertility as well as financial and emotional support for those having difficulties. This will go a long way to improving pregnancy and take-home baby rates in Singapore.”

She adds: “In Singapore, most newlyweds aim to have children within the first three years of marriage, but most are blissfully unaware of potential fertility issues. This is especially significant given the trend that people are marrying later here.”

Tan’s centre has seen increased demand from patients over 40 years old for assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatments. The average age of women attending the centre for ART was 37 in 2016; in 2018, there was a 65 per cent increase in the number of women aged 40 to 45 seeking ART treatments from Virtus.

In August, Singapore announced measures to increase the accessibility and affordability of fertility treatments for couples, including removing the upper age limit of 45 years.

Tan says while the regulatory changes are a step in the right direction, more can be done to improve fertility in Singapore – specifically egg freezing, which is allowed only on medical grounds.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
×