David McCullagh talks to Dr. Joan Cronin, lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at UCC and Mary McCarthy, columnist with the Irish Independent about policy ideas aimed at reversing the downward trend in Ireland’s birth rate. Click above to listen back.
According to the CSO, Ireland’s birth rate has fallen by almost 18% over the past decade; prompting questions about why people are having fewer children and what can be done to reverse the trend. Two women, an academic and a journalist offer their professional and personal perspectives on the issue.
UCC Sociologist Dr Joan Cronin, who describes herself as child-free by choice, said declining birth rates cannot be understood without recognising that women today have far greater autonomy over their lives than previous generations:
“There’s no doubt the financial crisis, the state of the world, wars, ethical and humanitarian concerns are contributing. But another factor is the fact that women have the choice available to them today. That’s something that wasn’t available to them historically.”
Drawing on her own research into women who choose not to become mothers, she said the decision remains subject to societal scrutiny and judgement:
“The decision is not accepted as valid or legitimate. It’s consistently questioned. Even still. It’s challenged. It’s questioned by family. There’s an assumption that every woman, that everyone should not only have a child, but should want to have a child.”
For Dr Cronin, the decision was never difficult, she says:
“I’ve always known that I didn’t want to have children. I suppose for me, non-motherhood is as natural as motherhood is to other women.”
Journalist Mary McCarthy has four children and admits to taking the plunge before she and her husband were homeowners. It doesn’t happen like this for everyone, she says, but once she had one child, that was it; she wanted more:
“I just went for it with my kids. We didn’t have a house. And I just said, you know what, I got this. You see, the thing is, when you have a child, that’s when you get the bug. That’s when you’re like, oh, my God, this is amazing. And for me, it happened when I was 30.”
Mary agrees with Joan that financial pressures are a major factor for many; and she argues that public policy should encourage family formation:
“We need the pro-natal financial incentive, because if you feel financially precarious, you’re not going to have a kid. That’s just the truth of it, right? So housing, child care, primary school is massive.”
Mary McCarthy also argues that changing social habits among younger generations are playing a role; but that there is no arguing with basic biology, she says:
“I look at my kids. I’ve got three Gen Z, right? They’re dating less. All the research is showing that. So you have fewer kids then. You need sex, then you get babies. It’s just quite simple, you know?”
McCarthy points out a crucial missing piece in “the talks” kids are getting at school about sex – nobody talks to them about fertility, she says. Young people are taught about biology, but they are seldom confronted with the reality of the window of time available to people in which to have children, she says:
“None of my teenagers have ever heard anything about fertility. That conversation has never happened.”
The point is not that the government needs to encourage more teenagers to have sex, Mary says. It’s more a question of starting them on the pipeline of social contact with potential partners early enough for them to have children when they are ready for it. Technology and social media may also be affecting relationship formation, she believes:
“We want to take people off their phones into the world. You don’t get pregnant over Zoom, David, right? When I think back to where do I meet my boyfriends? I met them in work. I met them on dance floors.”
One thing Mary would dearly love to see is happy parents of kids being introduced to teens as role models, along with the role models who’ve had success in their careers. The two groups are not mutually exclusive: Mary McCarthy herself falls into both categories. She recalls attending a careers event at one of her children’s schools, where successful former pupils spoke about international careers. Mary thinks that family life should be positively represented too:
“I would actually have loved to have seen kind of, you know, a parent in there saying, well, you know, I took out nine years and I had my four kids and I went back to work. I’m back in the workforce, you can do that too. I’m not just saying to tell that to girls, tell that to boys.”
Both guests agreed that better childcare, housing and parental supports would help those who want children but feel unable to start a family. Both Mary and Joan expand on their ideas about the stigma around childlessness and policy suggestions for the future in the full segment, providing some fascinating perspectives on an issue that is sure to be part of the national conversation for years to come.