Austria in the baby boom hole: Historical decline in births is worried!

Austria in the baby boom hole: Historical decline in births is worried!

Statistics Austria today publishes births for the first quarter of 2025, which confirm an alarming trend. The decline in births in Austria, which has been going on since 2021, continues dramatically. In February 2025, the lowest births have been recorded since 1951. Forecasts indicate that around 74,000 births can be expected for the entire year 2025, which corresponds to a decline of 13.9 percent compared to 2021. Historically, this is the lowest value since the end of the Second World War when only 75,458 births were registered in 2001.

The decline in the average number of children per woman, which dropped to 1.31 in 2024, is particularly worrying and thus reached a historical low. Despite these alarming numbers, the desire to have children in the population seems to be constant. Surveys show that around 40 percent of people in Austria want one or more children, this value has been stable since 2016.

social and economic effects

The decline in birth has profound social and economic consequences, especially for the pension system. Experts are concerned about the long -term consequences of falling births and emphasize the urgent need to research causes and develop measures that make it possible to meet the population's desire to have children. Special focus is on strengthening the compatibility of work and family, which is considered a decisive factor for the implementation of their desire to have children.

A survey by the Integral Institute showed that 75 percent of the respondents want free access to childcare facilities - another indication that support measures for families must be optimized. In addition, 66 percent of longer opening times of the facilities want.

The role of pandemic and economic factors

A survey from 2024 shows that the majority of respondents believe that Corona pandemic had no influence on their desire to have children. Only 8 percent report a reduction in the desire, while 8 percent stated that their desire to have children has increased. This indicates that the reasons for the decline in births are more complex and are not exclusively related to the pandemic.

In addition, a decline in children in childless from 71 percent in 2016 to 50 percent is determined, which shows that social norms in connection with family planning continue to change. Educational level and income also play an important role. For example, 50 percent of the respondents with compulsory school leaving certificate or teaching have children, while with higher educated people (Matura/university) there are less than a third of parents.

gynecologist GDR. Christian Fiala criticizes the current developments as worrying and calls for an ongoing investigation to research the causes of the decline in birth. He emphasizes that unfulfilled desire to have children means great suffering for affected couples and illuminates the need for sustainable family policy measures.

In this multi -layered topic, both economic and social factors are important. A comprehensive signal effect that alludes to the challenges of the birth decline could ultimately lead to a rethink in family policy and support the desire to have children in Austria.

summarized reports OTS that despite a consistently high desire to have children, a variety of factors conflict with the actual birth rate, which makes it necessary to take proactive measures. The developments are not only worrying, but also raise questions that could benefit pregnant women and their families in the future.

For detailed information on the survey results and other aspects of the topic, it is advisable to report the detailed reports on OTS to consult.