The 9 reasons why Chileans don’t want to have children

The latest report from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) puts into figures a trend that many people in society already perceived: Chileans no longer want to have children and the birth-rate reached its lowest level in the country’s history.

To get an idea, In 1960 it was recorded that the the mothers They had an average of 5.4 children but the Vital Statistics Yearbook 2020 revealed that Chilean women currently have 1.3 children.

However, this is not such a new trend. Since 2000, fertility and births have begun to reverse in Chile, in addition to evolving in parallel with the rest of the world, where contemporary societies show little or no interest in having and raising boys or girls. girls.

But, Why do Chileans no longer want to have children? How will this phenomenon affect us? This is the explanation of Dante Castillo, sociologist and academic at the School of Psychology at the University of Santiago de Chile (Usach).

To explore the worrying figure of the INE, Questio and Qualitativa, two market and opinion research agencies, carried out the study What is behind the low birth rate in Chile.

The investigation showed that 17% of Chileans between 16 and 45 years old do not plan to have children, which means that 1 in 5 young people He has no desire to be a mother or father.

Among the main reasons are:

1. I would like to consolidate my professional development and my studies (85%)
2. The economic cost is very high (75%)
3. Uncertain future, social and/or environmental crisis (62%)
4. I don’t feel prepared (46%)
5. I couldn’t devote all the time I wanted to it (44%)
6. Takes away freedom, time and experiences (44%)
7. I don’t have a partner with whom I plan to be (38%)
8. I prefer to have pets (37%)
9. It doesn’t interest me, it doesn’t attract my attention (30%)

—To this national and global trend It mainly contributes to the lifestyle associated with contemporary life and modern society, which influences social attitudes and values. . People start to think negatively about whether or not they should have children – begins to explain Dante Castillo, sociologist at Usach. The third .

The expert It also highlights the role of the family, which is experiencing new interpretations today. -very different from those that existed before- and that “It causes a certain rejection of having children.”

On the other hand, There is job insecurity and precarious economic conditions that create great uncertainty when thinking about the costs of education and training.

But On stage, there is also the new gender role of women.

— There has been a change related to the woman’s location. Among the priorities, motherhood is valued in the same way as the professional field. In fact, in recent times, professional success is valued more — comments the expert, who is also deputy director of the Usach School of Psychology.

And finally, It is possible that reproductive technologies may lead to delaying the moment when one wants to become a mother or father until after the age of 40, something unthinkable several decades ago and which can today be achieved thanks to different innovative treatments.

—The consequences of the low birth rate in Chile are barely perceptible from the point of view of a country’s development. By global standards, the replacement rate (the balance between births and deaths) is 2.1 children. But In the Chilean case, which is 1.3 children per woman, this effect is not yet reflected, because it goes hand in hand with the reduction in the workforce. — says the sociologist LT.

It means that, Currently and with the advent of technology, fewer and fewer people are needed in the workplace for different functions, so low birth rates are not a major problem. when it comes to “replacing” retired or deceased workers.

— It goes without saying that if the population decreases, we will have financial problems. But we would have problems if the population aged too much. A society whose replacement rate is above the minimum is economically viable. -he rocks.

But the sociologist warns that Yes, there is a big consequence.

—With fewer births, We are going to have an increasingly older society, which will have effects not only on the health dimension of society, but also on productivity and innovation. What is called into question in an old society is renewal,” explains Castillo.

That’s to say, An old society that lacks youth is more dogmatic, conservative, doubts change more and is less encouraged to make social, cultural and aesthetic trials and errors.

— Paradigmatic changes are closely associated with youth for different reasons, notably philosophical. We could have a relatively paralyzed, static, technical and conservative society. This is the risk from the point of view of sociology.

Other countries, such as China, They presented the birth rate problems within their populations and developed plans to encourage people to want to have children, through “support measures”. in matters of taxes, insurance, education, housing and employment.

But for Castillo, In Chile, these incentives are unsustainable, and not just because Chinese society tends to be more centralized and exposed to harsher state decisions.

-For now, This is not feasible, because it requires having resources that we do not have. Not only do we need to fund obligations that financially benefit a family, we also need to fund cultural changes. (…) In Latin America, we will not succeed. The first thing is to pose it as a problem, but from the point of view of the capacity that we will have to renew ourselves and to project societies that think about emancipation for a better life — concludes the expert.