The number of women in Chile having children has dropped significantly. It has the lowest birth rate in Latin America, a region where motherhood is plummeting faster than anywhere else.

Santiago

Chile is experiencing a significant decline in its birth rate, now the lowest in Latin America. Only one in two women of reproductive age are choosing to become mothers, with the average number of children per woman dropping to 1.14, below the replacement rate and even lower than rates in Japan and the European Union. This trend is attributed to factors such as improved access to birth control, fewer adolescent pregnancies, and a shift in social attitudes, including a greater expectation for shared parenting responsibilities.

The declining birth rate is already impacting Chile's economy, with maternity wards and businesses catering to children closing. Migration is currently helping to sustain birth numbers, as one in three babies are now born to foreign mothers. Experts warn that Chile will need to address social and economic challenges to counteract the effects of its growing structural infertility.

Deaths are outpacing births across Latin America

Young children, an increasingly less common sight in Chile, where only one out of two women of reproductive age are choosing to become mothers. Thirty-five-year-old architect Barbara Maureda and her husband live in a comfortable Santiago apartment with their two cats. Her latest passion is designing and producing mobiles, and she's running her own company. Their careers are their priority. I grew up thinking I'd have children because of our culture, but eventually I realized it wasn't what I wanted. I feel happy the way I live now, with my family, my cats. I don't want to change that now. In the 1950s, Latin American women had an average of 5.8 children. In 2024, the average is 1.8, below the famous replacement rate, which is 2.1 children per woman, which would be the number needed to maintain the population stable. And Chile's fertility drop is the steepest in the region. Only 1.14 children per woman, according to the latest census, lower than Japan and the European Union. There are many reasons. Adolescent pregnancies, for example, have dropped sharply, thanks to government programs and better access to birth control. Now women have joined the workforce, but perhaps most importantly, social attitudes have changed, and rapidly. Many women are now less willing to become a parent unless their partners are committed to doing half the work. This poses key demographic challenges. Because it questions society's ability to sustain themselves over time, and additionally because it puts very important pressure on key social systems, from care to education, from health to the economy, even including the labor market and pensions. The economy is already feeling the pinch. Maternity wards and many hospitals are closing, as are shops that used to sell baby clothes and toys. The trend that's keeping births from dropping even further is migration. One out of every three babies are born to foreign mothers now, like Alejandra, who's about to have her second child. Rent, food, everything is expensive, but I don't believe in having an abortion. In the long run, though, Chile will need to come up with ways to improve social and economic conditions to counter its growing structural infertility. Lucia Newman, Al Jazeera, Santiago.

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