Birthgap - Childless World PART 1 (English Version)

** Featured at the Chelsea Film Festival, 2021 **

The era of ultra-low birthrates has begun. But why are people having so few children these days? And what are the consequences ? Come on a journey of discovery across 24 countries to find the reason and also the future consequences for young and old alike.

This is Part 1 of Birthgap - Childless World.

[scarlett]

My teenage daughter mentioned population collapse in science class and everyone laughed at her. Even the teacher. They’re still teaching overpopulation.

[hrtdinasaurette]

Anecdotally- in the mid 70s my father left my mother alone to raise myself and my younger brother. The couple of friends she did have were also single mothers. As children we felt very much that we were a burden who had caused my mother a lot of suffering. The poverty was very challenging but, the relationship between us kids and our mother was the hardest thing. By a very early age I knew I was not prepared to repeat this process and I am childless. This is not a call for pity. This is just an illustration of one of the many reasons women have stopped having children. In total my father left 4 children and eventually settled with a career woman for 40 years. They did not have children. I think the collapse/destruction of the nuclear family and the security it provided must have played some part in this worrying situation.

[normanshadow]

Im 63. My dad supported a wife and 6 children. He was a blue collar worker and we were middle class, lived quite comfortably. Bring those days back please!

[dweamy]

I do not think that there is one single issue why birthrates have dropped, there are multiple reasons. As a woman, my argument is that being a mother/motherhood is not respected and is probably considered to be of low value in the same way having a job/career is. Motherhood is not celebrated. Financially it's hard to leave the work force to look after ones kids, so work is the main focus so that a roof is over your head, and food on the table, and staying on the career ladder. Then the added issue with the instability of relationships, and the risk of divorce will also no doubt have an effect on why people have less children. Easier to support 1-2 children than 8 if your relationship breaks down.

[doma]

I mean, the fact that they kept saying every "industrialized" country had the same problem, seems to be the answer. The priority of those countries is money and profit at the expense of literally any other concept you can think of. Mental health, family, friendships, free time, etc. And to top it all off, calling the systems out for it only yields words like "weakness", "play hard", etc. thrown back. Or even worse, telling people to smile and be happy and proud and appreciative of the endless grind.

[soniaterhovanessian]

I was told by a gynaecologist a few years ago that more and more women are having premature menopause at younger and younger ages. She said it so flippantly. I asked if it was known why and she said no. This is grossly overlooked. Something is amiss. Yes, career. Money. Finsnc8al and political crises. But there's something also happening to our fertility. And also men's. Is it the hormones in our food? Our water? Toxins? Stress? The pill? Radiation from our devi es? Medication?
And is it intentional?

[fersuvious]

Every one of my friends in Vancouver canada who haven’t had kids cite affordability as the reason. We all waited till our 30’s to have kids and now we are all turning 40 and yet most of us aren’t anywhere ahead financially than we were 5-10 years ago.

[juliex]

What wasn’t mentioned is how raising children has changed dramatically. Uber focus on the child and their happiness at the expense of a balanced life. I raised my children this way (and as a single parent with no family help). It shows the younger generation that family life and raising children is filled with drudgery, deprivation and standing in the sidelines with no life. Maybe we need to let up on the competition, the child focused life, the impossible situations of mothers who both work and raise children. And the expectations people have for what life is (easy, without challenges, uncompromising) - I think this has been facilitated by the internet/social media.

[thcentury]

A great shoutout to the woke Cambridge students. Without their boycott and protests, i would have never heard of this great film.
Classic example of the streisand effect.

[Scribemo]

Workism = no time, no money, no future, no meaning beyond productivity.

[LifeLittle]

We need to make it a valued career to have and raise children. We also need to make it possible for a household to be able to live on one income like it was in the older days.

[Terrillthegreat]

After caring for parents and grandparents, who can afford kids or have energy to start a family of their own? A one bedroom is so expensive. How can you afford to have kids, pay childcare, and buy a house in today’s global economy?

[CMR]

Thanks to "Redacted" covering the Cambridge students and their protests I ended up here. Can't wait to watch part II and III.

[ChrisWillx]

It goes without saying that I absolutely love this. Great work mate. Keep grinding!

[tonkashouse]

@birthgap I'd like to propose the solution: Older people need to accept that if they want grandchildren AND educated daughters, the grandparents need to BE THERE to help raise the grandkids. Commit to your children, especially daughters, that you will be there to help shoulder the burden of dishes and laundry and diapers and picking up from school and everything else. NOT living your best lives playing golf in Florida or Arizona.

We evolved as intergenerational families with aunts and uncles and grandparents always around to help raise kids. Modern life has fooled us into thinking we can get by with just a nuclear family of 2 parents and the kids. Dropping birthrates and the mating crisis is showing us that is not the case.

Knowing that my wife and I would have ZERO support from our families absolutely was a factor in not having children.

[gabrielanthonio]

We are not seen as humans anymore. We are increasingly seen as cogs in the financial system to make the upperclass even richer. We are born into a world were heritage and inheritance is worth more than hard work. In a world where money is everything.. many feel defeated. We do not have time for family or children anymore. We work ourselves to the grave. What point is there to bring a child (or more) to a world like that? If you truly love children.. do not bring them into this world if you are not able to spend enough time with them and give them stability. I am well educated with a good salary.. but my work demands to much time from me.. for me to even consider having a family. We are no more than well educated modern slaves with suits and ties. When more people draw that conclusion.. this is the result. "How many slaves do you intend to raise?" It's either that or give a *single* kid a large inheritance so he can live a better life. You can't have two, three or four children in todays society. That in combination with climate change and the expensive house-market is making the decision rather easy for people aged 20-40. And do not even entertain the thought of what todays 10 year olds will decide when they are 20-40. They will more than likely bring us down to 0.2 - 0.6 / woman.

I come home.
3h "free-time"
I go to bed.
Wake up.
Work.
Repeat. 

We are not masters of our own lives. We are simply here to complete tasks that are currently too advanced to automate. For many.. that will soon change. As a result of our prosperity during the 20th Century we should have been awarded more free time with family, 25h-30h work weeks. But instead the rich just got richer. Why earn money if you can't even spend time with your loved ones? What is the point of having children if you have to work 60h/week, or more? Kid will just grow up without knowing his parents.

Also.. traditional values aren't cherished anymore. Divorce is a very common occurrence nowadays compared to 1900s-1970s. People break up all the time, over tiny things. Which makes it even harder to envision a "happy family" future. You have to consider all sorts of outcomes.

[yeahno]

We have turned having children into an expensive burden. I can't tell how many times I've heard the argument that a person should or is waiting to get financially stable before they think about kids dont know how it is in other countries but this is the common sentiment here in the U.S. Also something to think about, the whole conversations surrounding abortions should come into play.
Edit: I commented before I even finished watching this. This was really interesting and good

[GloriaBeauclair-vlvb]

How can young people start a family if they cannot even afford a home?

[amcalde]

We have four kids. They are quite spaced out, but that's just how they came. We live relatively poor and simple lives because of this. Ever since our first (in 2002) our friends said, "Oh I wish I could afford to have children." Many of those friends remain childless to this day.

[mittens]

I became a parent in 2005 at the age of 25. When my son attended kindergarten in 2010 I was known as the "young Mom". I was 30. All the other parents were in their 40s. I thought it was an odd label to apply to me because 25 didn't seem that young to have a child but now that I am the parent of a legal adult, my son just turned 18, and I am age 43 the label of "young empty-nester" doesn't seem so odd as most of the parents I know - my age range late 30's to mid 40s - have families comprised of young children. I've watched in real time the growth of the phenomenon of later age parenting. Fascinating documentary. I will be interesting to see how this all turns out.