June 10 (UPI) -- The United Nations Population Fund, or UNFPA, announced Tuesday that while some may worry about a population decline and how it could impact a country's survival, the bigger crisis is that people are not having children when they want, or when they're truly ready.
According to a press release from UNFPA, a survey it conducted across 14 countries and involving 14,000 people found that about one in five respondents said they wouldn't be able to have the number of children they would like.
"The issue is lack of choice, not desire, with major consequences for individuals and societies," UNFPA's Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem said. "That is the real fertility crisis, and the answer lies in responding to what people say they need: paid family leave, affordable fertility care, and supportive partners."
The study found that from those who were asked, most people assumed they would have more or fewer children than expected from them, or no kids at all.
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The UNFPA findings also shwed that while most of those asked do want two or more children, 39% of the respondents felt they can't afford to because the costs of living and costs of raising kids are out of their reach.
The organization suggested that if nations increased the recruitment of women into the workforce, it would not only provide an economic boost for families but also address any personnel shortages that are affecting a nation.
However, the study also found some people are having kids, but don't want to or don't feel prepared to be a parent. One in three survey respondents claimed they or their partner had experienced an unintended pregnancy or were pressured to have children but did not want to, and that 25% of men and one-third of women said they had felt "unable to say no to sex."
The study warned countries that try to influence their citizens often fail, as initiatives like short-term price cuts on housing and childcare, or cash payments when babies are born don't work.
"Most of these are ineffective and offer scant support," reports UNFPA.
Nations that enforce restrictive reproduction laws are also seen as reasons for a decline in childbearing. Any blocks on reproductive rights, the lack of comprehensive sex education, limits on contraception and the banning of abortion "can even be counterproductive," the UNFPA said.
The report recommended that increased and open fertility and adoption services should be available to all. UNFPA also submitted that people who don't want any children must be allowed to make that choice, and to do so without pressure.
