Childbirth in Sweden is the lowest in over 50 years.
At the same time, there is still a strong norm as a woman that you should have children.
– It creates a feeling of exclusion, and of not really being able to participate, says author and journalist Sara Martinsson, who has no children.
The number of children born per woman has not been so low in over 50 years, statistics from Statistics Norway show. During the first nine months of 2023, the birth rate was 1.5 children per woman.
At the same time, both social and traditional media are filled with different depictions of motherhood, mom blogs and influencers who share pictures of their children.
– It seems that there is an endless need to discuss motherhood, says Sara Martinsson.
When Martinsson turned 40, she did so as a person without children. Then she realized that she lacked stories to share from others in the same position. So she took the plunge and wrote a book about being a woman without children.
– We have an idea that life should happen in the same way for everyone with a series of fixed points that we pass. We are born, we go to school, then we get an education or a profession, we get a partner and then eventually children come.
“Falls by the wayside”
Almost 90 percent of all women in Sweden have at least one child by the age of 45. A large majority. Sara understands that the need to talk about children and motherhood exists, but that there is a group that risks being left out.
– Anyone who does not follow this life script ends up a bit on the sidelines. It is a specific experience.
Looking for security
Despite the perceived exclusion, Martinsson usually thinks that Sweden has come a long way in accepting that people live in alternative family constellations. But not always.
– Sometimes I get the feeling that the nuclear family norm and the child norm are stronger than they have ever been.
She believes that it is due to the uncertain world situation that currently prevails. The uncertainty causes people to seek security, which for many means family.
– The world is a troubled place right now. Then we look back to the small life and the most basic.