Australia’s birth rate has fallen to its lowest level in almost 20 years, with many blaming boomers and social infertility for the sharp decline.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that the fertility rate has fallen to 1.5 babies born per woman, with just under 287,000 births recorded in Australia in 2023, the lowest level since 2006.
The drop has been partly attributed to “social infertility”, a phenomenon where Australians want to become parents but are not biologically capable of doing so for a variety of reasons, including sexual orientation or marital status.
Others have blamed boomers for focusing solely on policies that “benefited” them and not their children, claiming that they have been forced to postpone parenthood for 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 raised the idea of having a child with her long-term boyfriend when she realized her fertility and the clock was ticking.
“I wanted to have some kind of plan, whereas his priority was to keep his options open. He was talking like ‘then maybe I couldn’t go skiing,'” Huston told ABC.
Huston broke up with her boyfriend two years later and spent $18,000 freezing her eggs.
Rising social infertility has contributed to Australia’s historically low birth rate. Delaying or not having a baby due to factors such as high cost of living, homelessness and not having a partner are considered social infertility (pictured, file photo of a baby).
“Freezing my eggs makes me feel like I have a little more time to do other things,” she said.
Huston’s situation reflects a broader trend: 38 percent of women freeze their eggs for non-medical reasons, driven by factors such as uncertain relationships, career guidance and financial instability.
Tanya Williams, pro-choice advocate, author of A happily ever after without childrenpointed to the high cost of living and environmental concerns as major factors behind the growing number of young people deciding to delay or forgo having children.
“They seem to be the real drivers behind this,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Every person’s situation is obviously different and there are many reasons why people decide not to have children.
“There are no good or bad reasons, it’s all about what is good or bad for the individual.”
Williams said that if a person knows they want or don’t want children, they should discuss it early in the relationship.
“I think what’s really important for anyone is to make sure they’re on the same page with their partner,” she said.
Tanya Williams (pictured), pro-choice advocate and author of A Childfree Happily Ever After (pictured), said younger generations find having a baby too expensive and that if the government wants to increase the birth rate birth rate, they must address the high cost of living.
“Because what often happens is assumptions are made, like thinking a couple wants to have children, but no one has 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 to have kids and that’s heartbreaking.”
The pro-choice advocate believes the blame for low birth rates too often falls on women, but it should be a “both-sex conversation.”
“As we know, it’s the same as when a woman decides to be a mother, most of the care and responsibility still falls on her,” she said.
“Until people get rid of this pronatalist attitude that it’s a woman’s job to do this and that, it will be difficult to see change.”
Williams said the government also has a history of criticizing and blaming women if they don’t have children, but not men.
“Politicians make huge assumptions and generalizations; they are uneducated about the real problem,” he said.
‘There are so many reasons why people don’t have children.
‘Someone may not have children by choice, others may not have children due to circumstances because they do not have a partner or cannot have children.
“No government should have the right to tell a woman what to do.”
Williams said the government is “freaking out” about the low birth rate and that everything is driven by taxpayer money and need.
“If the government wants more people to have children, then maybe they need to consider the cost of living,” he said.
“And how can they help the younger generations to be able to afford to live because most of them say, ‘I can’t afford to live, let alone have a child.'”
Amid growing and declining numbers of young Australians choosing not to have children, many boomers lament the prospect of one day becoming grandparents.
But some young people were quick to denounce the older generation and blame them for the fertility crisis.
“Maybe if boomers and Gen Xers had focused on voting for policies that benefited their children instead of themselves, they could have had grandchildren,” one said on social media.
“They lifted the ladder behind them and expected us to continue climbing.”
“Bro, we can’t afford houses, let alone brand new humans,” a second added.
Another commented: “Boomers sit in their paid-for four-bedroom homes in the suburbs while their children drown in debt and a skyrocketing cost of living.”