Original version

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC OS Conversations

Factual: Health & Wellbeing

How major news stories are affecting the lives of people around the world

Bringing together people from around the world to discuss how major news stories are affecting their lives.

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC OS Conversations: Babies and families

Factual

Babies and families

28/01/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - BBC OS Conversations, Babies and families

We hear conversations about why people decide to have children or choose to be childfree

We hear conversations about why people decide to have children or choose to be childfree.

Several countries are experiencing a fall in the number of babies being born and this has potentially serious consequences. Japan’s Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, has warned that his country is on the brink of not being able to function as a society. The problem is an increasingly elderly population and not enough younger people to keep the country ticking over. 

China is seeing record low birth rates and South Korea has the lowest rate of women having babies in the world. Youtubers Sarah and Kyuho in the South Korean capital Seoul, describe some of the pressures and reactions they experienced when they said they are not planning to have kids.

We also bring together two Japanese women, Yuko and Nobuko. Yuko tells host James Reynolds how she had to give up her job because she could not find childcare for her daughter in Tokyo, and how attitudes from some men can still be a barrier to women trying to balance bringing up children with a successful career. 

We also hear from three women in the US and Sweden who have chosen not to have children. Tina May in New Orleans tell us: “I’m living a free, fantastical black magic life and I can go anywhere I want, sleep-in whenever I want, I can have alone time, friend time, I can travel the world.”

(Photo: Newborn baby sleeping on a white rug. Credit: Getty Images)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

BBC OS Conversations

Babies and families

Genres

Brand

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

About BBC World Service