Joan Cronin: Free women often choose to remain child-free — why's that so hard to understand?

While finance can influence family planning, particularly the number of children women will have, it is rarely the sole deciding factor

We must urgently re-evaluate the cultural expectations placed upon women.

There is growing discussion about the decline in birth rates in Ireland, with fewer workers and growing concerns about how state pensions for our growing elderly population will be funded in the future. This is due in part to the severe housing crisis which currently persists, rising living costs, and the lack of suitable and affordable childcare. But the discussion ignores the other, more personal, reasons for this decline.

With greater access to education and more economic independence, women are no longer confined to strictly domestic roles. Instead, increasing numbers of women are pursuing careers in the world of paid employment, with greater autonomy and capacity for individualised decision making, including the decision to pursue a life without children.

However, this personal and individual life choice is often met with public backlash. Rarely is it accepted as a valid or legitimate life choice and women are frequently expected to account for and justify their decision. 

Perhaps this is due in part to the historical domination of the Catholic church in Ireland and its role in promoting procreation and motherhood, a role strongly supported by the Irish state. Institutionalised gender discrimination was widespread in Ireland, contraception, abortion and divorce were forbidden, women working in the public or civil service were required to give up their jobs upon marriage and up until the mid-1970s a married woman had no legal right to a share in the family home. It wasn’t until the 1990s that marital rape became a criminal offence in Ireland. 

The massive fall out from the exposure of systemic abuse by clergy, within Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries and Mother and Baby homes in Ireland led to questioning of the Church's moral authority.  This in turn led to a further decline in birth rates and in more recent times there has been an evident increase in the numbers of women shying away from motherhood altogether. 

I am one of those women, who has consciously or even sub-consciously shied away from the pull of motherhood. My life as an only child born to working-class parents in the 1970s has inevitably influenced this, as has my commitment to academia and my work as an educator. My parents, extended family and friends have always given me their full support, and I have never been pressurised or judged because of the choices I have made. 

However, through my research in this area, I am aware of the intense scrutiny some women endure. This can come from family, friends, colleagues, and others and while not always ill-intentioned, can have profound implications. Often, women will feign postponement or infertility or avoid disclosing it. Other women will staunchly defend or justify it. 

The fact remains that within our society there is an unwillingness to accept that some women do not want to have children

 It is not that we have a dislike of children; often it is the reverse. The reasons vary from woman to woman.

Some women are haunted by past experiences, by childhoods involving poverty, addiction, abuse, or neglect, of caring for younger siblings and taking on adult responsibilities while still only children themselves. Others by overpowering parents who denied them opportunities for autonomy and self fulfilment; some are motivated by global and humanitarian concerns. 

These women do not want to expose potential children to the chaos of world wars, the challenges of climate change or the growing domination of social media. While finance can and does influence family planning, particularly the number of children women will have, it is rarely the sole deciding factor.

The Nordic countries are well known for their support of working parents, with subsidised universal childcare, extended paid parental leave and flexible working arrangements — and yet report a consistent decline in birth rates. 

Here, the National Economic and Social Council has called upon the government to intervene with a view to reforming pension and family support policies, whilst developing and investing in immigration policies to deal with impending worker shortages, unsustainable pension pressures and to safeguard future generations from further economic and social hardships.

It is unlikely that birth rates will ever return to those witnessed historically in Ireland, given the competing challenges women face in today’s world

 While advances in education have paved the way for career progression women are still confronted by a range of systemic barriers including expectations of balancing paid employment with household and familial duties. Women still experience significant gender pay gaps and career interruptions, particularly those with children.

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We must urgently re-evaluate the cultural expectations placed upon women. Whilst there is an unquestionable need for more fiscal supports for women, mothers, children, and families in Ireland, financial support alone will not lead to an increase in birth rates. 

The decision to have children is a personal one, shaped by a combination of biological, psychological, financial, environmental, sociological, and cultural factors. Respecting that choice is essential — without the need for justification, explanation, or defence.

Dr Joan Cronin is a Lecturer at the Department of Sociology and Criminology University College Cork