Why Blaming Women for Falling Birth Rates Misses the Point

One-dimensional narratives about the ‘underpopulation crisis’ conveniently obscure what’s really going on

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The panic over low birth rates is becoming impossible to ignore nowadays.

And much of the blame is being placed — surprise, surprise — on women.

Current US Vice President JD Vance has called it ‘deranged’ and ‘very crazy’ for women not to have children due to climate concerns. Other American right-wing figures have frequently implied it’s women’s reproductive choices — or rather, the freedom to have them — that are to blame. Meanwhile, Polish politician Jarosław Kaczyński has gone so far as to attribute low birth rates to young women drinking too much alcohol.

Then there’s the endless flood of articles, social media posts, and even studies similarly lamenting how women and people assigned female at birth are too selfish, too lazy, too empowered. One recent study even suggested that low birth rates might be the fault of older women who haven’t retired yet because their continued employment means they’re unavailable to provide free childcare. Another, published in Hungary, blamed it on women wanting to pursue education.