Overview
Family size, whether small or large, is intertwined with reproductive rights, which are tied to many other rights, such as those to health and education, adequate income, the freedom to make choices, and non-discrimination. Where all rights are realized, people tend to thrive. Where they are not, people are not able to realize their potential, and fertility rates tend to be higher or lower than what most people really want.
Fertility matters
Fertility matters for individuals because it reflects the extent to which people have the power and the means to make their own choices about the number, timing and spacing of pregnancies. Fertility matters for societies because it can impede or accelerate progress towards greater prosperity, equitable and sustainable development, and well-being for all. The global transition to lower fertility rates began with individuals, before the present era of national planning and health-care services. In European countries in the late nineteenth century and in English-speaking countries on other continents, changing economies presented new professional and job possibilities, motivating couples to have fewer children so that they could seize these opportunities. As more girls enrolled in school, literacy increased. News and information spread more broadly through society and contributed to a growing awareness that controlling one’s fertility was within the realm of conscious choice. People, particularly women, started to see that having fewer children could lead to better outcomes in many spheres of life.