UNITED NATIONS, New York – “Do you want kids?” Every day, people around the world ask themselves, and others, this question. But it also begs another: “Do you feel able to have children?”

With over 8 billion people in the world, it’s a question that has become arguably more loaded. For some, this number is unsustainable, unequally distributed and will cause the planet’s demise. Others worry we’re in a “population collapse” – that societies cannot sustain their ageing, slowing demographics.

Yet amid all the anxiety, few are asking people what they actually want. This year’s State of World Population report, The real fertility crisis: The pursuit of reproductive agency in a changing world, asked these questions and more, revealing five little-known truths behind the headlines.  

1. 1 in 5 people are not having the number of children they want. 

2. Most people want to have children – but too many are shut out of parenthood.

3. Many people feel pressured to have children they don’t want or aren’t ready for.

4. Most fertility policies don’t work – and some have the opposite effect.

5. People need security, equality – and hope.

https://www.unfpa.org/news/fertility-fallacy-five-things-you-didn%E2%80…;