“The number of women of reproductive age is decreasing. “Women from the weakest years of the 1990s enter the age of peak fertility between 25 and 35,” explained one of the reasons, demographer Jiřina Kocourková, head of the Department of Demography and Geodemography at the Faculty of Science of Charles University.
The most children were born in the last thirty years in 2008. According to statistics, 119,585 children were born in the Czech Republic. Last year it was only 91 thousand, which is the lowest since 2002.
At the same time, there is an increase in the number of women who have their first child after the age of thirty-five or even after forty. While in 2012 their share was 8.7 percent of all women giving birth, ten years later it is already over 11 percent. A third of births occur to women aged 30 to 34.
Increasingly, women have only one offspring. Egg quality decreases with age. Many couples have no choice, they fail to conceive and seek help through artificial insemination.
“A woman’s fertility drops significantly and dramatically after the age of 40,” pointed out Martin Zikán, head of the gynecology-obstetrics clinic at the Bulovka University Hospital. Age between eighteen and thirty is ideal. “So age is the main factor that determines the chance of getting pregnant easily and quickly. Another important factor is also overweight and obesity, which significantly reduce the chance of getting pregnant,” he added.
Women who give birth at an older age are at risk of high blood pressure or gestational diabetes.
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“The average age of women who come to our clinics continues to grow. He most often comes to us at the age of 36. We can help many, but they no longer have time to have as many children as they would like,” said Pavel Otevřel, head physician of Reprofit and scientific secretary of the Assisted Reproduction Section of the Czech Obstetrics and Gynecology Society.
In 2021, there were 1.83 children per woman, and for last year it will be roughly 1.5. This translates into about 17,000 fewer children being born.
In the Czech Republic, one fifth of couples who wish to become pregnant struggle with infertility. If a woman cannot conceive for a year, she should seek professional help.
Worries about the future
People in their twenties and thirties think more about the future. Uncertainty and the rising cost of living have a strong influence on postponing pregnancy. Birth statistics reflect the financial situation of young parents and the availability of housing.
“This has gotten significantly worse since 2021 – rising energy prices, rising housing costs, deteriorating housing affordability, stalling wage growth, increased economic uncertainty. This negative effect still persists,” emphasized Kocourková.
According to Otevrel, concerns about war or the climate crisis are not an exception. Naturally, women also delay pregnancy due to university studies or travel.
Research confirms that Czechs react very sensitively to changes in conditions. However, recovery could occur as early as next year if the economic situation improves. Couples who are unable to conceive should see a doctor after about half a year of trying in vain, not years later.
With the prospect of aging baby boomers heading into retirement, low birth rates are a serious societal and economic problem.
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