History tells us that all freedoms are conditional. In 1920, as part of a socialist commitment to women's health and welfare, the Soviet Union became the first country in the world to legalize abortion. Sixteen years later, that decision was reversed when Stalin came to power and realized that the birth rate was falling.
The pressure on all countries to maintain their population levels has never ended. But in 2025, the demographic crisis is set to be even worse – and its toll will be on gender rights. in both United States of America and this united kingdomThe rate of birth of babies has been declining for the last 15 years. The fertility rate in Japan, Poland and Canada has already fallen to 1.3. In China and Italy, it is 1.2South Korea has the lowest in the world 0.72Research published by The Lancet medical journal estimates that by 2100, approximately every country on the planet Will not be able to produce enough children to maintain its population size.
A big reason for this is that women have greater access to contraception, are better educated than ever before, and are pursuing careers that mean they are more likely to avoid or delay having children. Parents are investing more in each of their children. The patriarchal expectation that women should be little more than child-bearing women is thankfully being broken.
But the basic dilemma remains: How do countries produce more children? Governments have responded with pleas and incentives to encourage families to reproduce. Hungary has Income tax abolished For mothers below 30 years of age. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was seen in 2023 crying on television She urged the National Conference of Mothers to play their role in stopping the decline in the birth rate. In Italy, Premier Giorgia Meloni has backed a campaign to reach at least Five lakh births per year by 2033.
However, as these measures are failing to have the desired impact, the pressure on women is becoming more dire. conservative pro-birth movement Old-fashioned nuclear families with many children are being promoted, which is possible only if women give birth first. this ideology This at least partly explains the devastating restrictions on abortion access in some US states. Anyone who thinks abortion rights have nothing to do with population concerns should note that in the summer of 2024, US Senate Republicans also voted against it. Contraception a federal rightIt is this worldview that fuels the growing backlash against sexual and gender minorities, whose existence poses to some as a threat to the traditional family. The most extreme pro-natalist These also include white supremacists and eugenicists.
The more concerned nations are about birth rates, the greater the threat to gender rights. For example, in China the government has taken staunch anti-feminist stance In recent years. President Xi Jinping told a meeting of the All-China Women's Federation in 2023 that women should “actively develop a new culture of marriage and childbearing.”
At the moment, most women are at least able to choose when they will have children and how many they will have. But as fertility rates continue to fall below replacement level, there is no telling how far some countries will go to increase their population levels. It seems that 2025 will be the year in which their choices may be taken away.