Why many women are deciding not to have a child

Irish Examiner

20-06-2025

A new National Women's Health Survey, commissioned by the Irish Examiner and carried out by market researchers Ipsos B&A, found that, among women who are currently pregnant or who have had a child, one in five experienced fertility difficulties.
Four in five of these women sought medical advice in relation to their infertility or their partner's, while 52% underwent fertility treatment such as IVF.
A total of 1,078 women aged 18 and above responded to the survey. While 45% of the women who had had a child said they plan to have another, 49% said they don't want to.
Galway woman Serena Matthew, who is in her early 40s, falls into that cohort: 'Two children were always in my head as an [ideal] number. I now have an 11-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy. My husband would have loved a third, but we decided that after our second, it just wasn't an option.'
Their decision was based on their finances. 'We saw the cost involved in bringing up two children. We've a four-bed house and the fourth bedroom is small, so we didn't have the space. Moving wasn't an option with prices going up. Two is what we could handle. We didn't want to put ourselves in a difficult position financially.'
Matthew is not alone in her position. More than one in three National Women's Health Survey respondents report not feeling financially in a position to have a child, or another child. 11% disagree, and a large number 'don't know' or are unsure.
Dr Dora Tuda, an ESRI research officer is not surprised by the finding that one-quarter of all women say they have delayed, or will delay, having children until they have reached certain financial or career goals — a thinking more characteristic of middle-class women.
Tuda points out that nowadays, in Ireland, the EU and the US, more women than men hold a third-level degree: 'In Europe in 2022, 48% of women held a third-level degree compared to 37% of men. Why do people get a higher-level degree? To get a better job, a higher income. So if women are considering having a child, they also need to think about leaving the labour market for a while, which corresponds to some income loss.'
While acknowledging that it sounds harsh, Tuda highlights what economists refer to as a 'child penalty' — the pay cut that having a child involves and that falls disproportionately on women.
'Even in Scandinavian countries — [considered] more 'equal' than other countries — women on average experience a 20% income loss after having a child compared to men with the same experience and qualifications. This is because of maternity leave — once they return to work, it takes time to catch up. They may lose chances of promotion.'
Dr Dora Tuda, a research officer with the ESRI.
Equality in leave
In Ireland, parental leave is set up so women are more likely to take leave after having a child — 26 weeks paid maternity leave compared to two weeks paid paternity leave for fathers.
'The system is [such] that the income loss from having a child is taken on by women and not equally between men and women,' says Tuda, adding that Norway — and more recently Spain — are taking steps to counteract this.
'Spain has introduced a mandatory equal parental leave for both parents — they're each given six months. The mother takes the first six months, after which she returns to work, and the second parent takes the next six months. If the second parent doesn't take it, the leave goes away.'
That more than one in three women here don't feel, financially, they could have a child, or another child, is also put in context, says Tuda, by the rising cost of child-rearing.
'Recent estimates from Laya Life say to raise a child up to age 21 costs €169,000.'
However, delaying having children is not all down to cost.
'People are spending longer in education compared to earlier. They're also taking longer to reach job stability. Gap years abroad, unpaid internships — all valid decisions young people take to get ahead, to have better opportunities when seeking a more stable permanent job, but it also delays having children.'
As do housing challenges — Tuda points out that in 10 years, the median age of buyers taking out residential property mortgages climbed by four years.
'In 2010, the median age was 33 years. In 2021, it was 37. Being older when buying property can automatically delay starting a family.'
In the mix, too, says Tuda, is a sense of changing cultural norms — a move towards smaller families or even remaining childless. 'You hear this more often than you did 20 years ago.'
Bonnie O'Halloran: 'One friend wants children with her boyfriend. But most people my age feel similarly to me. They don't fear pregnancy as I do — they focus more on the climate and financial aspect. None of us has stable enough careers to consider having kids. Most of us still live with our parents.' Picture: Moya Nolan
Not wanting a child
Of respondents to the National Women's Health Survey, who are aged under 50 and who have not yet had a child, 37% said it is unlikely they will have a child, and one-fifth are adamant they won't.
One of these respondents — 25-year-old Bonnie O'Halloran from Naas — explains why, for a variety of reasons, she does not want to have children.
For one, she suspects she has endometriosis — there is a family history — and she fears what pregnancy will do to her body.
'I've not wanted kids for as long as I can remember. Being a woman, it's said to you a lot — 'when will you have kids?' When you say you don't want that, you're told 'you will when you're older'. That didn't happen for me. My youngest brother was born when I was 11. I got to watch him growing up, and the responsibility of being there for another human being isn't something I wanted for myself.'
'I also saw what parenting did to my parents, not in any horrible way, but the things they had to give up. My mum went to college when she was 40 and I'm really proud of that but she couldn't do it sooner. I don't want to put that kind of pressure on myself.'
Yet O'Halloran, who has a degree in illustration and currently works as a substitute teacher, loves children and thinks she might adopt when she's in her 40s. But she also sees the world's current political atmosphere, as well as climate and financial realities, as factors in deciding not to have children — a feeling she says many of her peers share: 'One friend wants children with her boyfriend. But most people my age feel similarly to me. They don't fear pregnancy as I do — they focus more on the climate and financial aspect. None of us has stable enough careers to consider having kids. Most of us still live with our parents.'
While a recent CSO report indicates that our fertility rate is declining, Tuda confirms that, at 1.55 births per woman, it remains above the European average of 1.46.
Among the under-50 survey respondents, who have yet to start a family, about two in five say they are 'definitely' or 'very likely' going to do so, with a further 10% saying they are 'quite likely'.
Click here to read our National Women's Health Survey.
The Irish Examiner Women's Health Survey 2025
Ipsos B&A designed and implemented a research project for the Irish Examiner involving a nationally representative sample of n=1,078 women over the age of 16 years.
The study was undertaken online with fieldwork conducted between April 30 and May 15, 2025.
The sample was quota controlled by age, socio-economic class, region and area of residence to reflect the known profile of women in Ireland based on the census of population and industry agreed guidelines.
Ipsos B&A has strict quality control measures in place to ensure robust and reliable findings; results based on the full sample carry a margin of error of +/-2.8%.
In other words, if the research was repeated identically results would be expected to lie within this range on 19 occasions out of 20.
A variety of aspects were assessed in relation to women's health including fertility, birth, menopause, mental health, health behaviour, and alcohol consumption.