News | Climate Change Shapes Reproductive Decisions: Australian Study Examines Women’s Views of Motherhood and Family Futures
As the climate crisis intensifies, more Australian women are questioning whether the planet remains a suitable place for the next generation to thrive. A national study led by Flinders University is examining how the “age of climate change” profoundly affects women’s feelings, judgments, and choices about having and raising children.
The pilot study is led by Kris Natalier, associate professor of sociology at Flinders University and head of the Maternal Futures research project. She said, “We are living in a time when climate-driven disasters are becoming more frequent and severe. This normalization of crisis is forcing many women to reconsider whether it is responsible or even possible to bring new life into such a world.”
Australia has experienced devastating bushfires and widespread flooding in recent years. These extreme events have caused physical and economic damage and profoundly affected family structures and ideas about motherhood. Natalier said, “As climate risks increase, having children is no longer an automatic choice for some women; it has become exceptionally complex and even painful.”
The study will be conducted with Mary Holmes, professor of emotions and society at the University of Edinburgh, and Carla Pascoe Leahy, a historian at the University of Tasmania. They plan to develop a conceptual research framework for larger interdisciplinary studies.
Dr. Pascoe Leahy said the framework had initially been tested by analyzing women’s public testimonies about climate and reproduction on the Conceivable Futures website. The testimonies clearly show that the climate crisis has led many women to delay or abandon plans for children and prompted some mothers to reconsider how to parent in a highly uncertain future.
“We have observed three increasingly clear trends: some women have ended their plans for motherhood entirely, some have chosen smaller families, and some mothers are reshaping their parenting practices in response to the disruption that frequent disasters bring to daily life,” Pascoe Leahy said.
The study ultimately aims to quantify the relationship between environmental and family research and assess the social effects of these emotional and cultural shifts. Natalier said, “We urgently need to address a gap in government and media attention to climate issues. Beyond health, the economy, and infrastructure, we need to understand the real emotional changes, cultural responses, and reshaping of intimate relationships within communities.”
By quantifying these effects, the team hopes to encourage policymakers to pay greater attention to the far-reaching ways climate change is restructuring the family, a fundamental unit of society.
News | Climate Change Shapes Reproductive Decisions: Australian Study Examines Women’s Views of Motherhood and Family Futures
News | Climate Change Shapes Reproductive Decisions: Australian Study Examines Women’s Views of Motherhood and Family Futures
As the climate crisis intensifies, more Australian women are questioning whether the planet remains a suitable place for the next generation to thrive. A national study led by Flinders University is examining how the “age of climate change” profoundly affects women’s feelings, judgments, and choices about having and raising children.
The pilot study is led by Kris Natalier, associate professor of sociology at Flinders University and head of the Maternal Futures research project. She said, “We are living in a time when climate-driven disasters are becoming more frequent and severe. This normalization of crisis is forcing many women to reconsider whether it is responsible or even possible to bring new life into such a world.”
Australia has experienced devastating bushfires and widespread flooding in recent years. These extreme events have caused physical and economic damage and profoundly affected family structures and ideas about motherhood. Natalier said, “As climate risks increase, having children is no longer an automatic choice for some women; it has become exceptionally complex and even painful.”
The study will be conducted with Mary Holmes, professor of emotions and society at the University of Edinburgh, and Carla Pascoe Leahy, a historian at the University of Tasmania. They plan to develop a conceptual research framework for larger interdisciplinary studies.
Dr. Pascoe Leahy said the framework had initially been tested by analyzing women’s public testimonies about climate and reproduction on the Conceivable Futures website. The testimonies clearly show that the climate crisis has led many women to delay or abandon plans for children and prompted some mothers to reconsider how to parent in a highly uncertain future.
“We have observed three increasingly clear trends: some women have ended their plans for motherhood entirely, some have chosen smaller families, and some mothers are reshaping their parenting practices in response to the disruption that frequent disasters bring to daily life,” Pascoe Leahy said.
The study ultimately aims to quantify the relationship between environmental and family research and assess the social effects of these emotional and cultural shifts. Natalier said, “We urgently need to address a gap in government and media attention to climate issues. Beyond health, the economy, and infrastructure, we need to understand the real emotional changes, cultural responses, and reshaping of intimate relationships within communities.”
By quantifying these effects, the team hopes to encourage policymakers to pay greater attention to the far-reaching ways climate change is restructuring the family, a fundamental unit of society.
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