History tells us that all freedoms are conditional. In 1920, the Soviet Union became the first country in the world to legalize abortion, as part of its socialist commitment to women's health and well-being. Sixteen years later, that decision was reversed when Stalin took power and realized that the birth rate was falling.
The pressure on all countries to maintain their population levels has never gone away. But in 2025, that demographic crisis will be even more devastating – and the victims will be gender rights. In both USA and United KingdomThe rate of babies being born has plummeted in 15 years. In Japan, Poland and Canada, the birth rate has dropped to 1.3. In China and Italy, that is 1.2. South Korea has the lowest level in the world 0.72. Research published by the medical journal The Lancet predicts that by the year 2100, approx every country on the planet will not produce enough offspring to maintain population size.
Much of this is because women have greater access to contraception, are better educated than ever, and are pursuing careers that make them more likely to avoid or delay having children. Parents are investing more in each child they have. Thankfully, the patriarchal expectation that women should be little more than babysitters is slowly crumbling.
But the original dilemma remains: How can countries produce more children? Governments have responded with calls and incentives to encourage families to procreate. Hungary has it Income tax is abolished for mothers under 30 years old. In 2023, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un was seen cry on television as he called on the National Conference of Mothers to do its part to stop the falling birth rate. In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has advocated a campaign to achieve the least half a million births per year by 2033.
However, because these measures have not achieved the desired effect, the pressure on women is becoming more and more serious. Conservative pro-birth movements is promoting the old-fashioned model of large nuclear families, which can only be achieved if women give birth earlier. This ideology at least somewhat informs the brutal crackdown on abortion access in some US states. Anyone who thinks abortion rights have nothing to do with population issues should note that in the summer of 2024, Republicans in the US Senate also voted against introducing Contraception a federal right. It is this worldview that has created a growing backlash against sexual and gender minorities, whose existence for some represents a threat to traditional family. The most extreme advocates of childbirth also included white supremacists and eugenicists.
The more countries care about birth rates, the greater the risk to gender rights. For example, in China, the government has done it a strong anti-feminist stance in recent years. President Xi Jinping told the All-China Women's Federation meeting in 2023 that women should “actively cultivate a new culture of marriage and childbirth.”
Currently, most women can at least make some choices about whether and when they have children and how many they have. But as birth rates fall below replacement levels, it's impossible to know how hard some countries can push to raise their population levels. 2025 looks like a year where their choice could be taken away.