Poland's birth rate is in freefall. A loneliness epidemic that cash can't solve
theguardian.com
theguardian.com
There are a few Poland-specific twists:
- Poland’s economic progress has been staggering. It also means many challenges have shifted from those of a poorer country to those of a (kind of) rich one - see e.g. https://www.theglobalist.com/poland-economy-development-gdp-...
- There’s a long-standing stereotype of the Polish mother - self-sacrificing and overbearing. Many women (understandably) don’t want to perpetuate that model.
- Poland has one of the harshest anti-abortion laws in Europe. Many women fear that if they had health issues, some more conservative doctors or hospitals might risk women’s lives to "save" the pregnancy - even when it’s likely to end in stillbirth. See https://www.epfweb.org/node/857
- In Poland, affordable apartments are small. Typical rentals are around 40–50 m^2. Apartments of ~100 m^2 (within reach for many couples in Western Europe) are largely out of reach in Poland. https://www.espon.eu/sites/default/files/2024-06/affordable_...
There is 0 correlation between anti-abortion laws and birth rates.
It is a strong claim. Can you point to data from Poland that there is no correlation?
Of course it is anecdata, but while I do women who openly stated they are not going to risk it (as they are of higher age, or had previous complications). Some moved to other countries.
On the contrary, it is hard to imagine that "thanks to making it riskier, I decided to have kids".
No I can't, because I don't know how you would isolate this from the other effects. In general, if you look at countries, it's not correlated.
>On the contrary, it is hard to imagine that "thanks to making it riskier, I decided to have kids"
But I can perfectly well imagine women who don't think ahead, then end up having to carry the baby to term because they can't abort. I might agree with you that this measure will shift the birth rates from higher income classes to lower income classes.