Source: Radio New Zealand
Danni Duncan documents her decision to live a child-free life. Danni Duncan
The number of babies born in New Zealand continues to fall with the latest data from Stats NZ showing more than 1500 fewer babies were born last year.
The total fertility rate now sits at 1.53 births per woman. It hasn’t been at the replacement rate of two children per woman since 2013.
Danni Duncan has built a large social media following by documenting her decision to live child-free.
Duncan told RNZ’s Morning Report many women now realise there’s a choice, and are choosing themselves, especially in tough economic times.
“There is a lot that you sacrifice and give up when you become a mother and we know that a lot of mothers are not supported well. Financially, the world is really hard for people these days so I think people realise they can’t have it all and I think it’s really awesome that they get to choose themselves,” Duncan said.
For Duncan, the decision not to be a mother wasn’t based on money.
“Even if the world was set up perfectly for me to be a mother, I still wouldn’t choose to be one. It’s not something I personally desire to do.
“I really enjoy my life as it is. I love being an aunty. I just love being a homebody and staying home,” she said.
“There’s so many different reasons why I’ve chosen to be childfree.”
Duncan created The Others Club, an online platform for child-free people to connect.
It holds local meet-ups and events for people without children to socialise and meet new friends. It currently has more than 1000 members, each paying just under $20 per month for access to the events and online community.
“I built that as a way for child-free people all over the world to connect and make friends with people in their cities.
“I think making connections just like mothers do when you want to have a similar lifestyle, you have similar dreams, similar hobbies.”
With talk of the declining birth rate, Duncan said there’s a lot of pressure on women to have children.
“I think if the government is really concerned then they need to look at how they’re actually supporting mothers and the people that do want to have children.
“Childcare is really expensive. I think workplace policies would need to change. I think that there’s even mothers who are just having one child rather than having more children these days because financially and just the way that society is set up, it’s just really, really difficult for them,” Duncan said.
A recent poll on Duncan’s social media channels found 30 to 40 percent of her followers said they would choose not to become a mother, even if it was easier and more affordable to be a parent in New Zealand.
Data from Stats NZ reported 57,027 live births were registered in the year ended March 2026, down from 58,539 the year before.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand