1 in 5 people are having fewer children due to fear of the future: U.N.

Falling fertility rates typically get blamed on the women of the world. But a new study published by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says both men and women “face significant barriers to realizing their fertility aspirations.” It’s not that they don’t want to have children—rather, they just aren’t able to in the ways they want to.

According to the report, barriers in political discourse, healthcare policies, financial instability, and climate change are some of the leading causes for globally declining birth rates—and furthermore, they prevent many from realizing their preferred child status.

“The evidence is clear: We are moving from a world of rapid population expansion in the mid-20th century to a period of declining fertility rates,” Dr. Natalia Kanem, executive director of UNFPA said.

UNFPA partnered with market research and data analytics firm YouGov to ask 14,000 people across 14 countries what they want for their reproductive futures and why. According to the report, nearly one in five participants cited a fear of the future as affecting their decision to have fewer children than they desire, including concerns about climate change, environmental degradation, wars, and pandemics. Meanwhile, 39% reported financial limitations as affecting their decision.

The countries included in the study represent a third of the world population, and include North Korea (the country with the lowest fertility rate), Nigeria (the country with the highest fertility rate), and the U.S. (somewhere in the middle).

All participants’ reasons behind their reproductive status were divided into five factors:

1. Health, including infertility and a lack of medical care
2. Economic, including unemployment and housing situations
3. Changed desires, including partner or personal decisions
4. Concerns over future, including political or climate concerns
5. Other, including lack of partner or societal pressure

“It is hard to escape the conclusion that these concerns—which certainly warrant policy responses—are rooted in outdated notions around who should be reproducing and why, and the notion that the achievement of a country’s preferred birth rate will ensure economic and political security,” Kanem said.

The UNFPA will use this report’s data to inform a youth reproductive choices survey launching later this year, with the goal of informing future global policy and programming. See the full report here.