Are the events of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ going to begin playing out in our everyday lives? According to a recent study by Ipsos, 40% of British women are no longer considering having children due to economic factors.
There have also been several articles this year warning that declining birth rates will result in fewer workers and higher taxes. Is this right-wing fearmongering to entice women to return to traditional values, or something altogether more sinister?
It is clear that giving birth has become a capitalist issue, and women are already concerned. The Centre for Social Justice reported that up to 600,000 people are currently devastated at the prospect of being unable to have children because they can’t afford them in the current cost-of-living climate.
However, as more women are also choosing to build their careers and live independently, this decline should not entirely come as a surprise. Although the government may present its findings as a reduction in female fertility levels, this is not entirely the case.
The government is primarily concerned that we have reached a “tipping point” where deaths will now outnumber births within the UK, making it difficult to meet the industrial output levels of previous generations.
We are struggling to successfully meet the needs of the people in the UK; recent statistics indicate that 382,618 are homeless, including 175,025 children, an 8% increase from the previous year.
A reduction in overall population size may allow us to successfully meet the needs of a smaller number of people, even if it causes short-term economic disruption to those in positions of power.
In addition to this, we are also seeing increasing numbers of miscarriages, stillbirths, and maternal deaths that do not align with the standard of healthcare and technology available today. This is a reflection on the underfunding of the NHS and mental health services, and also serves as evidence of the misappropriation of government funding.
In my opinion, women should not sacrifice their physical and mental well-being to meet the output levels of previous generations, while support for new mothers remains limited.
The world is overpopulated, with increasingly limited resources, and countless children already struggle unsupported in countries claiming a first-world status.
There will always be women who want to have children, but those who don’t shouldn’t be pressured to do so as a solution to an economic problem that ultimately stems from greed.
So what do declining birth rates really mean for women? Absolutely nothing, unless they intend to take our human rights away, and in which case, I hope they’d be in for one hell of a fight.
Written by Leah Marie Cox
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