Australia’s birth rate has plunged to its lowest in almost 20 years, with many blaming boomers and social infertility for the sharp decline.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed the fertility rate has dropped to 1.5 babies born per woman, with just under 287,000 births registered in Australia in 2023 – the lowest level since 2006.
The downslide has been partly blamed on ‘social infertility’ – a phenomenon where Aussies want to become parents, but they are not biologically able to for a variety of reasons – including sexual orientation or relationship status.
Others have blamed boomers for only focusing on policies that ‘benefited’ them rather than their children, claiming they have been forced to put off parenthood because of financial and social reasons.
Alice Huston, 32, made the decision to freeze her eggs after her partner showed no signs of wanting to start a family.
At the age of 30, she brought up the idea of having a child with her long-term boyfriend as she became conscious of her fertility, and the clock was ticking.
‘I did want to have some sort of plan, whereas his priority was keeping his options open. He would talk about like ‘then maybe I couldn’t go skiing’,’ Ms Huston told the ABC.
Ms Huston broke up with her boyfriend two years later and spent $18,000 freezing her eggs.
The rise of social infertility has contributed to Australia’s all-time low birth rate. Delaying or not having a baby because of factors such as high cost of living, lack of housing and not having a partner are all considered social infertility (pictured stock photo of a baby)
‘Having my eggs frozen makes me feel like I have a little bit more time to do other things,’ she said.
Ms Huston’s situation reflects a broader trend, with 38 per cent of women freezing their eggs for non-medical reasons, driven by factors such as uncertain relationships, career focus, and financial instability.
Choice advocate Tanya Williams, author of A Childfree Happily Ever After, pointed to the high cost-of-living and environmental concerns as significant drivers behind the increasing number of young people choosing to delay or forgo having children.
‘They seem to be the real drivers behind it,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Everyone’s situation is obviously different and there’s lots of reasons why people decide not to have children.
‘There’s no right or wrong reasons, it’s all about what’s right or wrong for the individual.’
Ms Williams said if a person knows they want or don’t want children, they need to discuss it early in a relationship.
‘I think the really important thing for anybody is to make sure you’re on the same page with your partner,’ she said.
Choice advocate and author of A Childfree Happily Ever After Tanya Williams (pictured) said the younger generations find having a baby too expensive and if the government wants to lift the birth rate, they need to address the high cost of living
‘Because what often happens is assumptions are made, such as thinking a partner wants kids, but nobody’s had a conversation about it.
‘And then they get to a point where their relationship is serious or they’ve been married for so many years and then one of them decides they don’t want kids and that’s heartbreaking.’
The choice advocate believes too often the blame for low birth rates is put onto women, but it should be a ‘conversation for both sexes’.
‘As we know, it’s the same as when a woman decides to be a mother, most of the care and responsibility is still placed on her,’ she said.
‘Until people get rid of this pro-natalist attitude that it’s a woman’s job to do this and do that, it’s going to be hard to see change.’
Ms Williams said the government also has a history of criticising and blaming women if they are childless – but not men.
‘Politicians make these massive assumptions and generalisations – they’re uneducated about the actual issue,’ she said.
‘There are so many reasons why people don’t have kids.
‘Someone might be childfree by choice, others might be childfree by circumstance because they don’t have a partner or they can’t have children.
‘No government should have the right to tell a woman what to do.’
Ms Williams said the government is ‘freaking out’ with the low birth rate and it’s all driven by money and the need for taxpayers.
‘If the government wants more people to have kids, then maybe they need to look at the cost-of-living,’ she said.
‘And how they can help younger generations to be able to afford to live because most of them are saying, ‘I can’t afford myself, let alone a child’.’
Amid falling and growing numbers of young Aussies opting to remain child-free, many boomers are mourning the prospect of ever becoming grandparents.
But some young people were quick to call the older generation out, and blamed them for the fertility crisis.
‘Maybe if boomers and elder Gen X had focused on voting for policies that benefited their children rather than themselves, they could have had grandchildren,’ one said on social media.
‘They pulled up the ladder behind them and expected us to keep climbing.’
‘Bro we can’t afford houses, much less entire new humans,’ a second added.
Another commented: ‘Boomers sitting in their paid off four-bedroom homes in the suburbs while their kids drown in debt and a skyrocketed cost of living.’
