More than 77 percent of Indonesian men and women want to have several kids, UNFPA Indonesia Representative Hassan Mohtashami pointed out here on Thursday.
However, challenges related to their financial status, housing availability, and employment are preventing them from building larger families, he added.
According to a UNFPA report, financial limitations are the biggest factor influencing their decision (39 percent), followed by housing availability (22 percent), and unstable job or unemployment climate (20 percent).
Further, the decline in birthrate can also be attributed to high living expenses, uncertainty toward the future, and gender inequality, Mohtashami said.
Hence, the government needs to address those challenges by meeting people’s needs through the provision of decent housing, employment opportunities, and better fertility-related care, such as maternity leave, as well as ensuring a supportive environment.
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A real fertility crisis stems from people’s inability to have and/or raise kids, not from a lack of interest in having them, he stressed.
He highlighted data from a UNFPA/YouGov survey conducted in 14 countries, including Indonesia, which shows that globally, one in five people have fewer children than they want.
Women must be given freedom by the state to decide how many kids they want to have during their reproductive years, he said. However, social and economic constructs influence such decisions, he pointed out.
“Fertility crisis occurs because among its most significant triggers are the high costs of raising children, unstable job, housing, concerns over the global situation, and the lack of an intimate partner that matches preferences,” he elaborated.
Therefore, his administration has called for people’s empowerment through investment in affordable housing, decent jobs, maternity leave, and reliable fertility care and information, as this would allow them to make reproductive decisions freely.
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Translator: Lintang Budiyanti Prameswari, Mecca Yumna Ning Pri
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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