Cover image for These women said no to having kids - here's why
World 28 Jun 2026

These women said no to having kids - here's why

From financial constraints to worries about the environment, women tell the BBC why they do not want kids.

Image: Daily English Reader / Local generated SVG (Project-owned local asset)

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From financial constraints to worries about the environment, women tell the BBC why they do not want kids. Jess King always assumed she would have children. To her, it felt like a natural path all women eventually followed. "It turned into 'Am I not ready for this, or do I not want this?'" she recalls. Everyone she spoke to with children said they'd been really sure about it and they had a maternal urge. "I didn't have that and that made me start questioning it." Like Jess, more and more women in the UK are choosing not to have children. Research by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) suggests around three million women aged 16 to 45 are likely to stay childfree. If women in this age bracket were still having children at the same rate as their grandparents, 600,000 more of them would be having children. The CSJ's report cites "a range of social and economic pressures" as the reasons behind their figures.

ประโยคและวลีที่ใช้ได้จริงจากเรื่องนี้

King always assumed she would

กษัตริย์มักคิดว่าเธอจะ.

Collocation · Jess King always assumed she would have children.
had a maternal urge

มีความดึงดูดจากแม่.

Collocation · Everyone she spoke to with children said they'd been really sure about it and they had a maternal urge.
have that and that made

ทําให้มันและมัน.

Collocation · "I didn't have that and that made me start questioning it." Like Jess, more and more women in the UK are choosing not to have children.
are choosing not to have

เลือกไม่ให้มี.

Collocation · "I didn't have that and that made me start questioning it." Like Jess, more and more women in the UK are choosing not to have children.
are likely to stay childfree

อาจจะยังไม่มีลูก.

Collocation · Research by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) suggests around three million women aged 16 to 45 are likely to stay childfree.

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