Any action?
So is the government doing anything to encourage more births?
A Family Ministry spokesman said the desired number of children in a family was a private matter and government did not interfere. However, family policies have a significant impact on demographic changes in society.
Over the years, the government had introduced measures in the form of tax incentives, social benefits, accessible childcare centres and flexible working hours and support services, he said.
More than 8,000 mothers benefited from tax refunds, amounting to €8 million, to return to work after the birth of their child.
Medically-assisted procreation has been the subject of a national discussion and legislation on this was expected to be presented to Parliament for discussion in the foreseeable future.
From an anthropological point of view, Dr Falzon believes that rather than action in terms of policies, what is needed is a change in the way people perceived social constructs, like nationality and gender.
“I think the drop in fertility rates has to do with people planning smaller families, or no families at all.
“The reasons are many and complicated but one reason is certainly that more people, men and women, find self-fulfilment in areas other than family...
“This is not strange in any way. It’s invariably a corollary of an affluent society.
“I personally don’t think we need worry about it since there are enough people in the world as it is, so I wouldn’t do anything about it,” he said.
He believes the decreasing fertility rate of women is a good sign as “it shows women are busy doing things other than having babies – like careers and travelling and so on...”
He added: “Worrying about women having fewer babies and the decline of ‘a national population’ is intensely a political thing linked to notions of gender and nationalism.”