As 30-year-old Evelina Sederevičiūtė, who works and lives with her boyfriend, did not think about children, she shared her experience with the news portal tv3.lt. She says that this idea has been with her since she was a teenager.
“This idea has been with me since I was probably 16 years old. The further it goes, the more it only gets stronger and doesn’t change,” the interviewer asserts.
The woman says that such a decision was partly determined by her childhood experiences. Evelina is the eldest child in the family. She helped her parents raise her little sister from an early age, so she saw child care from the inner, unadorned side.
“Now when friends have kids, they’re visualizing it all through the lens of Instagram: a pretty picture of how to dress the kid nicely and all that. I faced that reality much earlier and, I think, it pushed me in that direction a little”, thinks E. Sederevičiūtė.
According to Evelina, the opinion only got stronger after observing other families with children.
“For example, when traveling. When you see families with small children and parents returning from a trip not rested, but even more tired, it also puts the balance in that direction,” says the interviewer.
The comments of others hurt
“You need to give birth, it’s enough to work here, women in their thirties walk around saying: “I don’t want children”. Here is the disaster. The biggest problem here is that children are not born in Lithuania,” said the conservative on tv3’s “33 Minutes” TV show with Artūrs Anužius.
As Vytautas Magnus University demographer Prof. Domantas Jasiulionis spoke on the Žiniai radio show “Open Question”, such statements are a traditional, pre-election trick. According to him, demography is always used for political purposes before elections and myths and illusions are formed.
However, E. Sederevičiūtė has also heard various responses from people around her. One of the most popular is who will take care of you in your old age?
“Then I immediately answer: how many elderly people have you seen who have 5-6 children, but live alone, without electricity, without care, etc.?” It must be remembered that in foreign countries it [gyvenimas be vaikų] has long been common. The integration of seniors is underway, there is a home for the elderly. I think that peers should be with peers,” E. Sederevičiūtė is convinced.
Some people try to convince the woman that her opinion will change. Once you have found the man you love, you will have children. The example of E. Sederevičiūtė shows that it is possible to have the love of life and not want children for both.
“It is very important to find a partner who agrees with your opinion. This is also a very important thing,” adds E. Sederevičiūtė.
According to Evelina, it is important to understand that for a childless couple, any retorts and questions about children are painful. After all, not all couples can have children, and inappropriate words can only deepen the wound.
“There is a great lack of discretion in society. In our case, those who know don’t even ask anymore, but they still ask from the side. After all, there are indeed families who want children, but they can’t. Therefore, those questions are really sometimes out of place and out of time,” says the interviewer.
The numbers show a decline in the birth rate: war and climate change may have caused this
D. Jasiulionis points out that the number of women able to give birth has decreased 3 times from 1990 to now. From almost 60 thousand to 20 thousand children. According to D. Jasiulionis, it is impossible to change this process quickly, but this does not mean that nothing should be done.
“If you look at the indicator of the number of children born per woman, I think that the indicator might be even lower. <...>
We really cannot yet answer exactly what causes that decrease, let’s say, because we are on a similar level with the richest state of the European Union, Luxembourg. So it’s not just economics, it’s not just politics, there are many factors,” he explains.
The demographer of Vytautas Magnus University emphasizes that the current trends that young people no longer want to have children can also be determined by the war in Ukraine, but this requires research confirmation. He admits that this question is also a critical moment for scientists.
“It is very important for us to look at the change of values, especially of the youngest generations, they are thinking about having children or remaining childless, because tomorrow is unknown because of the war, because the climate can be a disaster,” explains the specialist of the possible position of the young generation.
According to him, the declining birth rate is determined by several structural factors. First of all, women are giving birth later than before because they are pursuing higher education.
“This is the postponement of childbirth due to education, education takes time and in the youngest generations the share of women with high education reaches 50%. and more. A woman who has completed her studies faces her first challenge, looking for her first job.
It’s the dilemma of career and parenting. When they manage to coordinate that, when they find the optimal time, then they decide to give birth,” the expert explains on the Žiniai radio show.
Expert: the payment will not solve the problem
Other important reasons are the family policy in Lithuania, although, according to D. Jasiulionis, many good decisions have been made in this matter, the problem is that the family policy is limited to benefits.
“We know that some families in Lithuania are poor, but this should not be the primary task of family policy, it should be a poverty reduction policy. If payments are made, there is a short-term jump in the birth rate, but then it fades away,” the interviewer notes.
D. Jasiulionis believes that one should not focus only on the declining numbers of the Lithuanian population or the birth rate. It is more important to ensure that the residents of Lithuania can live a quality life.
“We have many examples of smaller states which, in terms of population, live at a much higher level than Lithuania. <...>
The primary task of that demographic policy is to restore that demographic structure and gradually over the course of several decades, through the birth rate, through the effect of emigration, something that would restore that balance,” he said on the Radio News program.
The entire show “Question of the Day” with Demographer of Vytautas Magnus University, Prof. Listen to Domant Jasiulionis here:
Tags: time Lithuania worry Professor explained women longer giving birth Tomorrow unknown due war climate change
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