To think France's plan to write to every 29 year old reminding them to breed is patronising nonsense??

[Designless]

Nobody alive is forgetting to do this

A lot of people don't want to because in the modern era it's not necessary and a lot less fun than other stuff

Some people DO want to but can't in which case idk give them the missing tools or funds

But nobody is forgetting

Why does this whole topic seem to bamboozle policymakers so hard?

Nobody dreams of a Gilead style theocracy quite as much as the people who panic on threads like this.

I don't know French politics that well but the current government is in fact quite hated by the MAGA crowd so that campaign won't have anything to do with them but it's aiming for a similar goal. It's about trying to achieve a reversal of the downward fertility trend, but they're framing it as a health awareness campaign rather than an existential battle for heritage. However they do it though, those initiative are going to come across as very condescending (at best) and downright creepy.

You do the ostrich as much as you like, that truck is real and heading for us unless we tell them to fuck the fuck off.

Letters also never work. It's a waste of money. Look at how effective it was for the Remain campaign ten years ago. How many people read the little explainer on what the EU does? Those who weren't interested threw it straight into the bin. It'll be the same with this.

There was an Australian campaign to boost the birth rate too “one for mum,one for dad, one for Australia” along with a financial incentive “baby bonus”. It worked but only briefly, birth rates declined again.

@Miggirl I've heard that as well, and that the people who do want children are tending to have one less than they'd ideally want because either they started trying later or its just not affordable.

If I were a government wanting to increase the birthrate I'd focus on housing cost, university debt, and childcare provision - not leaflets though.

Also what's maternity leave like in France? European countries seem to vary quie a bit.

Yep surely just going up and up will cause it’s own issues.

I’m 30 and want kids, married, own my own home. It’s not because I’m forgetting that I haven’t done it yet… I’m busy trying to build a career that will support those babies.

Most of my friends are either a) struggling to conceive b) don’t want children or c) are single

I think there are people who genuinely don’t know.

After ridiculing and insulting me for having my first child at 16 someone I know waited to have children in her late thirties and couldn’t have them even after ivf. It then turned out she had also gotten pregnant at 16 but had an abortion which she now regrets.
She also doesn’t have an amazing career and hasn’t traveled the world despite waiting

Yep surely just going up and up will cause it’s own issues.

Do you mean birth rates going up & up? That isn’t happening & wont happen.

There's enough people on this planet, we already ruining huge swathes of it

Population will keep increasing for some time even without babies due to people living longer….

France has traditionally had one of the higher birth rates in Europe but even so last year they had more deaths than births which is a significant demographic shift.

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/14/france-data-deaths-birthrate-ageing-population

People think AI will solve the economic fallout of shrinking older populations, it might mitigate some in the future. However western economies are already being impacted by ageing populations & it’s affecting growth now.

And do you think it's a bad thing if such people don't perpetuate their genius?

Ai is affecting jobs now

Good. Fine for the population to decrease.

@Designless so why will it “save us” from the impact of an ageing population?

Im not sure what people don’t understand. Smaller populations are a good thing but smaller ageing ones not so much. Here in the UK for example the state pension & NHS model doesn’t work with the changing demographics & then you have the issue that a largely older base will vote for policies that benefit them so any reform becomes impossible.

By rendering millions of young adults unnecessary. It's going to be a big problem if the birth rate doesn't drop - I'm pretty worried about the UK's relatively high birth rate and what that will mean for the numbers of restless, unemployable young people in 10/15 years.

What do you want then? Can you define clearly what it is you’re asking to happen

@EasternStandard can why do you think a smaller but older population is a good thing?

But the economy is changing anyway. These young people won't be working. So the pension problem is just compounded by a working age benefits problem.

What do you want then? can you define clearly what it is you’re asking to happen?

What a bizarre response 😆

Just define and sell in what you want. I’m ready to listen. If you have the answer then you could persuade me.

People who don't want children at all are hardly going to be swayed by an idiotic government letter.

People who do want them, and perhaps would like to have a larger family but can't see a way to afford it, are going to be swayed by concrete policies, not letters.

Governments would be better off spending their time figuring out how to make things work with an ageing population and fewer children being born, because that trend isn't going away.

"Patronising nonsense" is an understatement. This is my first time readinf about this and I'm in a WTAF mode right now?! It's so bizarre, it's hilarious.