While attending an international conference, a crowd of people were engaged in a discussion about marriage and children. One woman was saying, "We have to build our careers first. We have decided not to have children. The family also has full agreement on this." Another woman objected, "Oh! What do you mean? After marriage, we should have children. Life is beautiful when you have children."

Marriage is a social institution. Other social institutions, family-kinship relationships, develop through marriage. That is why many feel its necessity in Nepali society. Sociologically, when a boy or girl gets married, their social responsibility increases. They constantly try to bear it. They are also forced to play their role for social ethos. 

Marriage is seen as being linked to producing children or increasing the lineage, but recently, some signs of change have started to be seen in this tradition. Many married couples today are deciding not to have children. This decision is related to personal freedom, economic situation, career priorities or socio-cultural changes. And, it is also a matter of the rights of married couples.

Not only in Nepal, but also in various countries of the world, the fertility rate is decreasing significantly. Modernization, personal freedom, development of single families, compulsion to leave their place and go to another place for employment, family pressure, etc. have also led to a decrease in the fertility rate.

Nepali society is still moving forward in the socio-cultural traditional wave. Our religion and culture have played an important role in supporting this. That is why in our society, having children after marriage is considered a social expectation. Urbanization, modernization, development in education, search for opportunities, women's empowerment, and changes in lifestyle are some of the reasons that are motivating married couples not to have children. In the context of Nepal, this trend is more prevalent among educated couples living in urban areas like Kathmandu and Pokhara. 

Rising inflation, unemployment, political instability, and economic problems have also had an impact on these issues. Studies have found that married women do not want to be confined to their homes after having children due to continuity in their careers, desire for self-reliance, and personal freedom. This trend has also increased in other countries of the world.

They are more adamant in their decision not to have children even if they live in a living relationship and get married, due to which there is a shortage of skilled manpower in developed countries. The low fertility rate has a direct impact on industries. That is why there is more talk of Korean visas, American DVs, or Canadian PRs. Nepal, on the other hand, is a country that sells laborers cheaply. In Asian countries like Japan and South Korea, the birth rate has been very low, which has caused serious social problems. 

From a social perspective, in the Nepali context, the decision not to have children after marriage brings about changes in family structure and social relationships. In a society with traditional thinking, such couples are seen as pressure, criticism, or incompleteness, and physical weakness. In rural settings, it is difficult for such couples to survive. In fact, the decision to have children or not is a completely personal matter for the couple. Others should not pressure them, but since the activities of the individual also affect society, it becomes a subject of social discussion. 

When discussing various aspects of couples who do not have children, those couples remain financially stable and mental stress is reduced. Professional careers continue to advance. There are also some negative aspects to this. In the long term, there is a population imbalance. As the birth rate decreases, there is a shortage of skilled manpower and we have to rely on other countries for the necessary manpower. 

If we look at the percentage of childlessness in other countries of the world, about 15 percent of women in the United States do not want to have children. In Japan, the percentage is 20, in Germany 23, in South Korea 30, in Indonesia 8.2, and in Papua New Guinea 15.6. The childlessness trend is more visible in Turkey, the United States, and Germany, countries with high human development in the world. 

According to Nepal's 'Demographic Health Survey' - 2022, 53 percent of married women have said that they do not want to have children, and 56 percent of men have the same answer. Based on this, the desired birth rate is 1.7. The total fertility rate in Nepal was 4.6 in 1996, and this rate is estimated to decrease to 1.76 by 2025.