Fewer Kids Born & The World Hasn't Ended

So remember how much women just love children? Love them so much they'd rather have children than do just about anything else because that is how women are wired, and oh look a baby! Well, apparently we don't love kids as much as we used to. Women in the US are officially having fewer children than they used to. The CDC says that between 2000 and 2009, pregnancy rates fell by 12 percent overall, and that the downward trend was present in all major racial groups. Teen pregnancy in particular saw a decline — by 2009, it was down 39 percent from peak 1991 levels. Meanwhile, the UK's Office for National Statistics says that women in the UK are twice as likely to never have children than they were just three decades ago.

So what gives? Do women just not like babies anymore? Have the evils of feminism triumphed? Well, that's one explanation. Another one could be that more and more women are either delaying having kids or just don't want them in the first place. Because here's the thing: All women don't need kids in order to feel fulfilled. For some women it's important, for others it's not, and both avenues are perfectly fine. And side note, when was the last time anyone ever assumed a man wasn't fulfilled because he wasn't a parent?

So, yeah, women are having fewer kids, and waiting until later in life to have them (pregnancy rates for women over 30 have actually been increasing). And that's fine. Because becoming a mother is and should be a choice, one that won't be for everyone. Society is changing, women's attitudes are changing, and we should all just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Image: Wikipedia Commons