Argentina has recorded a historic drop in its birth rate driven by economic and job instability across the South American country, United Nations data shows. The findings contradict recent assertions by Argentine President Javier Milei, who attributed the demographic decline to abortion.
Speaking on Thursday at the Council of the Americas in Buenos Aires, President Milei claimed that a passion for killing children in the womb was costing the nation economic growth, pension funding, and human capital. He added that Argentina is failing to achieve the population growth and birth rate required for replacement.
Data shows that fertility in Argentina has dropped to 1.2 children per woman, falling well below the 2.1 replacement rate needed to maintain a stable population over time. The decline reflects a progressive ten-year trend that began in 2014 and brought the birth rate to 8.9 births per 1,000 inhabitants by 2024.
Researchers found no evidence linking the birth rate drop to Argentina's Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Law, which was enacted in 2020, six years after the decline began. Instead, a United Nations study indicates that the primary obstacle to parenthood is not a lack of desire, but an absence of the basic material conditions required to raise children.
Economic hardship limits family plans
The first national survey of reproductive intentions was conducted between January and February 2026 by the United Nations Population Fund alongside consulting firm Voices! The study surveyed 1,515 individuals aged 18 to 70 across all regions of Argentina.
The study revealed that 57 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 45 have not had as many children as they would like due to external constraints. Among the primary reasons cited for delaying or avoiding parenthood, 79 percent of respondents pointed to an inability to provide economic well-being, 78 percent cited a lack of decent housing, and 74 percent highlighted a lack of time for caregiving.
The survey reflects conditions in a society marked by rising unemployment and a growing reliance on multiple jobs. Official figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses show that unemployment in Argentina has increased by 2.1 percentage points since President Milei assumed office in December 2023.
The United Nations Population Fund is the international body tasked with monitoring population dynamics and reproductive health. The National Institute of Statistics and Censuses is Argentina's primary government agency responsible for collecting labor and economic data.
Mariana Isasi, the head of office for the United Nations Population Fund in Argentina, noted that the survey findings demonstrate a clear gap between people's reproductive aspirations and the actual conditions available to fulfill them.
Austerity policies and social impacts
Luci Cavallero, a sociologist, researcher, and prominent figure in the Ni Una Menos feminist movement, told the EFE news agency that government austerity measures have produced widespread social distress, a mental health crisis, and an inability to plan for the future.
Cavallero added that the administration is renewing attacks against the feminist movement by framing it as an enemy and blaming it for the country's economic failures.
Ni Una Menos is a mass feminist movement founded in Argentina that campaigns against gender violence, economic inequality, and social injustice across Latin America.
A previous study conducted in 2023 by Voices! showed that the desire to remain childfree is highest among women of lower socioeconomic status at 20 percent. That figure drops to 14 percent among middle-class women and 8 percent among upper-class women.
Teenage pregnancy decline and public policy
Lucía Cirmi Obón, a doctoral fellow and academic specializing in feminist economics, told EFE that the president's statements make no sense. She noted, however, that women's rights movements have enabled individuals to exercise greater sovereignty over family planning.
Cirmi Obón explained that one of the main factors driving the broader birth rate drop is a steep decline in teenage pregnancy, which she described as positive news. The drop in adolescent pregnancies also began in 2014, coinciding with the start of the general demographic shift.
The reduction in teenage pregnancies has been driven by long-standing public policies, including comprehensive sex education, the free distribution of contraceptives, legal abortion, and the Plan Enia program. Introduced in 2007 to coordinate health, education, and social protection services, Plan Enia was dismantled under President Milei's administration.
Plan Enia, formally known as the National Plan for the Prevention of Unintended Adolescent Pregnancy, was designed to lower teenage pregnancy rates through inter-ministerial cooperation and community healthcare access.
Safe and legal abortion access, introduced under the 2020 law, represents only one recent element added to existing reproductive healthcare policies. Cirmi Obón emphasized that the drop in birth rates is a complex, multi-causal phenomenon.
Cirmi Obón added that the response to this demographic transition should not revolve around assigning blame, but should instead focus on creating public policies that support and accompany the evolving society.
This report was prepared with information from the EFE news agency and reporter Florencia Pessarini.
