Most women want children

– is simply a popular saying attributed originally to Mark Twain, and although I do not like this kind of “wisdom”, there are situations erstwhile they fit perfectly.


This case is surely a media debate on the results of CBOS investigation on women's procreative intentions published in January 2023.[2].

The media career of this study began with an entry on @RadioZet_News on Twitter (now X). It states: “Two thirds of Poles do not want children.”

This tweet gained very large coverage, and the message in it spread widely in many media and rapidly began to live his own life, an example of which is the header on the illegal.pl portal, which reads: “We have reached a point where only 1 3rd of the polled Polka wants to have children”. To this day, in many conversations, publications and even conferences I meet people who duplicate this statement.


Therefore, it is worth looking at the origin of the survey and what the lessons come from it. The question referred to above was:

“Are you planning future offspring?”

and was given to women aged 18-45, and possible answers were as follows:

– Yes, I plan on offspring in the next 3-4 years
– yes, I plan on going further
I don't know.
I'm not planning on it.

17% of the women surveyed responded that they planned children in the 3-4 year period,

15% said they were planning, but in the long term, and

And here's the first manipulation:

and for unknown reasons, the answers were combined: "I don't plan" and "I don't know", although they describe completely different situations.

For example, a 30-year-old who would like to be a mother, but is not in a lasting relationship, can answer "I don't know" due to the fact that her plans depend on a very many factors that she only partially affects, for example, if she can find a man with whom she would like to start a household – a good father candidate. No information has been published which part of these 68% of respondents chose the answer "I don't plan" and which "I don't know".

Secondly, the answer “I don’t plan” does not mean “I don’t want to have children”. A individual who already has as many children as he would like to have, will surely answer this question "I do not plan", but that does not mean that he does not want to have children.

Third Some women want they had children, but due to age or wellness problems they know they won't. This applies especially to women over the age of 40, who, due to the distribution of higher and lower demographics in Poland in the 18-45 group, are expanding in Poland all year.

Fourth The explanation of the answer "I do not plan" among the youngest respondents (e.g. 18-year-olds) as a declaration that they do not want to have children is definitely over-interpretation.

If an 18-year-old (a student of the 3rd grade advanced school) says she is not planning a child, it may mean that she is not reasoning about it yet due to the fact that it is simply a very distant perspective. In a fewer years, her answer may be completely different.

Fifth, any women cannot have children for wellness reasons. Just due to the fact that they respond negatively to the question of procreative plans does not mean that they do not want to have children.

Sixthly, what about women who are already pregnant or are planning on having a kid in little than 3 years. A female expecting a kid may have interpreted that she is being asked if she is planning a fresh child. We don't know that either.

Confirmation of these hypotheses can be found in the CBOS communication itself a fewer pages further, analyzing the illustration with the consequence schedules depending on the situation of the respondent.

The most negative responses are among women with 2 or more children in the 35-45 age group.

A forty-five-year-old girl with 3 children who says she's not planning any more can you say she doesn't want to have children? Of course, this is simply a rhetorical question.



It is worth reminding that in the age group of 30-45, over 50% are women aged 39 or older.

In turn, among the childless women in the age group 18-29 as many as 67% (more than 2/3) of the respondents declare that they plan to have children. We do not know how many of the remaining 33% are women who have responded "I don't know" or who cannot have children for wellness reasons.

Note that the percent of children who plan to have children falls with age and number of children. Young women with no children mostly plan to have them.

Finally, it is worth quoting another CBOS study, besides from 2023, although somewhat later[3].

This study, conducted in July 2023, asked another question, much better reflecting the desire or absence of children.

It read:

"No substance what your marital position is, in what age you are, and whether you have children or not, tell me – how many children would you like to have in your life?"

With a question so asked

Only 10% of women aged 18-40 responded that they would not want to have children at all (an interesting percent among men was lower – 6%).

and more than 1/4 of the women surveyed (26%) declare that they would like to have 3 or more children or as many as would happen.

The average indications oscillate around 2 children.


In a situation falling from year to year the number of births and evidence low fertility rates it is very easy to believe that Poles do not want children. But reality is much more complicated.

Polish women want to become mothers, but for various reasons they neglect or do not have (or do not think they have) the right conditions for this. What are the causes of specified a advanced discrepancy between declarations and reality (a fertility gap)?

It's a very complex subject, for a separate publication.

Michał Kot

Sociologist, expert on demography and social policy, erstwhile manager of the Institute of Generation, privately husband and father of 5 children.

[1] This conviction is based on the Autobiography of Mark Twain, but it is cited there behind British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli.

[2] CBOS, investigation Communication 3/2023, Women's Procreatives

[3] CBOS, Communication 87/2023, ‘Barriers of Procreative Purposes’