The number of childless couples in Turkey is increasing as almost one-third of married couples don’t plan on having children, a recent survey revealed.
Around 35% of married couples in Turkey said they did not have any plans to become parents, while 60% said they planned to have one or two children, according to a survey by dating website OKCupid.
Carried out to map Turkish users’ views on family, the survey showed that 61% of women considered it important that a couple's families get along, while 48% of men said it mattered.
The survey also revealed some striking insights at a time when gender roles are a hotly debated topic in the country. An overwhelming majority said they did not believe in gender stereotypes in families. Some 81% said they did not agree with the viewpoint that a man’s job in the family was to be the breadwinner, while 94% said chores like cleaning and dishwashing, things women are traditionally burdened with, should be divided equally among the spouses.
Despite the falling rates, Turkey still ranked higher in birthrates compared to European nations. According to a 2019 Eurostat report, the total fertility rate in Turkish women was 2.09, compared to 1.59 in European nations. The report said more than 1.2 million babies were born in Turkey in 2017, while only 5.07 million babies were born in all 28 EU member states.
