Parenthood In A Time Of Climate Change

War, famine and drought: More women say they won't have children because of climate change

Elizabeth Weise, March 26, 2019 (USA Today)

“…Is the future simply too horrific to bring children into? Some couples, frightened by the prospect of droughts, wars, famines and extinctions brought on by climate change, are making that decision…A Facebook group for women to discuss the idea launched this month, and [#Birthstrike is adding 70 supporters daily] in Europe and the United States…Conceivable Future, a U.S.-based group, has held more than 50 house parties in 16 states in recent years where women worried about global warming discuss forgoing motherhood…[P]eople in 13 of 26 countries polled by the Pew Research Center last month [said] it is the top international threat…And women more than men are worried…[with 66 percent of women and 51 percent of men citing] global climate change as a major threat…

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[The latest UN report showed even the least impacts will include] more wildfires, more droughts, more floods, rising sea levels and the loss of almost all coral reefs…Whether that’s affecting women's family planning isn’t known. The U.S. birthrate has been falling for years, and in 2017 was [the lowest since record-keeping began in 1909 at] just 60.3 births per 1,000 women…[American women have not been polled but] 22 percent of 6.500 Australian women in their 30s said that because of climate change] they were considering having [no children] or no more children…To be sure, the decision to not have children isn’t a full-on movement; it's more a discussion that’s beginning to bubble up…The goal isn’t to get women and men to pledge not to have children, but instead to provide a place to talk about a topic that most people don’t want to discuss even as humanity barrels into what they believe will be a dark and dystopian future…” click here for more

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