Fight for self-determination: World Population Report 2025 reveals facts!

Fight for self-determination: World Population Report 2025 reveals facts!

This year's UNFPA World Population Report is dedicated to the realities of life for people who are unable to form the type of family they want. The report is titled "Fertility in the Crosshairs. The Struggle for Reproductive Self-Determination in a Changing World." According to findings from surveys in fourteen countries, many people do not have the freedom to make decisions about their reproductive lives. This makes it clear that the crisis is less about over- or underpopulation, but rather about the fact that individuals are often unable to achieve their desired fertility goals. These findings were presented by UNFPA, with the Austrian Society for Family Planning (ÖGF) making the announcement takes over in Austria.

The political dimension of the issue of family planning is also highlighted. Governments often attempt to influence birth rates through various measures, which often restrict women and couples' freedom of choice. This particularly affects women, 44 percent of whom worldwide have no decision-making power over sexual relationships, contraception or access to reproductive health care. Around 750 million women live in countries with restrictive abortion laws, and 45 percent of all abortions performed are considered unsafe. Such circumstances pose a significant threat to women's reproductive rights, as highlighted in the analysis by DSW.

Obstacles in starting a family

The obstacles that women and couples experience when fulfilling their desire to have children are diverse. Surveys show that 23 percent of participants have an unfulfilled desire to have children; over 40 percent even gave up on it. These hurdles to starting a family are often analogous to the challenges that also arise when it comes to contraception, such as poverty, lack of education and health problems. On average, people around the world want about two children, but almost a third of respondents who have already completed family planning had fewer children than planned, while 12 percent had more children than intended. Political influence and populist and nationalist currents are increasing this pressure on family planning and reproductive self-determination, as also discussed by DSW.

Essential to improving this situation is the provision of resources for sexual and reproductive health as well as social infrastructures that promote a work-life balance. Voluntary and equality-oriented measures have the potential to increase the willingness to start a family. In contrast, coercive policies can often have the opposite effects and should therefore be avoided. Angela Bähr from the DSW points out the urgency of political and social framework conditions that guarantee real freedom of choice for women.

The presentation of the World Population Report will take place on June 16, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. in the Parliament Auditorium in Vienna. Representatives such as Willibald Zeck from UNFPA and panelists from #parlaandsex, including Petra Bayr (SPÖ) and Juliane Bogner-Strauß (ÖVP), will take part. A valid photo ID is required to visit parliament, and those interested can register for the event at international@oegf.at or by telephone at +43 677 62 54 58 61.