00:00Is it true that the decriminalization of abortion is what is causing the low birth rate in Latin America?
00:05That's what the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, said when he asserted that because of the madness of
00:09the green handkerchiefs,
00:11Argentina does not have a sufficient birth rate to guarantee the replacement of its population.
00:30And of birth rates that allow for replacement. Therefore, let's say, that passion for murdering children in the womb of
00:46the mother
00:47It's also costing us dearly in terms of growth, and I won't even mention the impact on the pension system.
00:53But how true is this? The short answer is it's not that simple, and the available data doesn't show it.
01:00that there is a direct relationship
01:01Between the decriminalization of abortion and the falling birth rate. We'll tell you about it.
01:05Birth rates have been falling in much of the world for decades, and Latin America is no exception.
01:11In fact, the region has been experiencing a reduction in fertility for more than half a century,
01:16a trend that accelerated especially since 2010 in countries like Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay.
01:23According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, today people, not just women,
01:28because they are not the only ones involved in bringing girls into the world,
01:30They have an average of 1.8 children when around 2.1 are needed to keep the population stable.
01:37In addition, between 2013 and 2023, 1.3 million fewer babies were born each year in the region.
01:44So, if it's not abortion, what is going on?
01:47Here we need to make an important distinction.
01:49Having fewer children does not necessarily mean that people do not want to have children.
01:54The United Nations Population Fund found that millions of people worldwide
01:58They do not have the number of children they want, and among the main barriers are economic and social conditions.
02:04Therefore, the cost of living, access to housing, job insecurity, inequality in caregiving responsibilities,
02:10The lack of support networks and uncertainty about the future can cause people to delay or give up.
02:16to have children.
02:16The discussion about birth rates is also beginning to look at how our ways of relating to each other are changing.
02:22In fact, several studies have shown a reduction in sexual relations.
02:27a decrease in young couples and a crisis of loneliness and finding a partner.
02:31For example, according to data from the U.S. General Social Survey,
02:35In 1990, 55% of adults aged 18 to 64 reported having sex weekly.
02:45By 2024 that figure had fallen by 37%,
02:49and between 2014 and 2024 the proportion of people aged 18 to 29 who lived with a partner
02:56It went from 42% to 32%.
02:59But it's the fault of the green handkerchiefs, of course.
03:03In fact, technology also influences how we relate to each other.
03:06Research by Kathleen Meyers and Ezekiel Hopper found an association between the expansion of the iPhone
03:11and a further decline in fertility in the United States between 2007 and 2011.
03:16They suggest that one possible explanation is that cell phones reduced face-to-face interactions.
03:21and the frequency of sexual relations.
03:24But this is only a hypothesis, a definitive explanation for the low birth rate.
03:28But why does this matter when we talk about birth rates?
03:31Because in order to have children, in many cases, there first needs to be a couple or family project.
03:36or at least an affective and social context that allows it to be built.
03:40So when we talk about low birth rates, we shouldn't just ask ourselves
03:44why women have fewer children,
03:46but also what conditions exist for those who wish to have them and are able to do so.
03:51Therefore, factors such as access to housing, stable employment, maternity and paternity leave,
03:57care and support networks, as well as the crisis of loneliness and relationships,
04:01can influence the possibility of forming a family.
04:04That's why reducing this discussion to abortion or feminism is wrong.
04:07It leaves out much of the complexity of this phenomenon.
04:11This does not mean that abortion has no demographic impact,
04:14but there is not enough evidence to assert that its decriminalization
04:18may be the cause of the decline in birth rates in Latin America.
04:21Because the decision to become a mother doesn't happen in a vacuum.
04:24It is influenced by education, work, access to contraceptives,
04:28housing, the cost of raising children, and care networks.
04:31And also because of the conditions that states are able or unable to guarantee.
04:36So perhaps the problem isn't that women have too many rights
04:40to decide about her motherhood.
04:42Perhaps the problem is that many people cannot find the necessary conditions.
04:47to build the family they want.
04:48But anyway, we've already told you what the data says.
04:51Now we want to know what you think.
04:53We read them.
04:53We read the first ones.
04:53His fear.
