23 April 2018

Population Matters statement on royal baby – the time for large families is over

 Population Matters director Robin Maynard says:

“We welcome the Cambridge’s baby boy to the world and wish him a long and happy life. But sadly, not every child born today will have such good life chances – and our growing human population and its impacts on our planet is making life for everyone more challenging.  

“Only last November, over 15,000 scientists from across the world issued a “warning to humanity”, bluntly stating that unless we change our ways, we face environmental catastrophe. The scientists didn’t hesitate to identify rising human population as a principal driver, or to propose the solution: ‘It is also time to re-examine and change our individual behaviours, including limiting our own reproduction (ideally to replacement level at most)…’

“With numbers of babies being born to millennials (the lowest for their age bracket since 1938), a large Royal Family is out of step with the times. Population Matters recently shared a graphic on why millenials are not having kids or choosing smaller families, which has reached more than 4 million people (and rising) and generated 1,800 comments. Attitudes to parenting and family size are changing fast.

“Of course, as individual families, we love and cherish our children – but we also need to love and cherish our planet, for their sake and that of future generations. Family size is not just a matter of personal choice, the impacts of an extra child on wider society and our planet should also be considered. Our good wishes and congratulations to the Duke and Duchess: we hope they will do their part to protect their new son’s future, and that of all children born today, by choosing to add no more new people to our rising population.”

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Contact: Alistair Currie, Head of Campaigns and Communications

alistair.currie@populationmatters.org

Tel: 0208 123 9170

Notes for editors

Population Matters is a membership charity that addresses population size and environmental sustainability. We believe population growth contributes to environmental degradation, resource depletion, poverty and inequality. We promote smaller families and sustainable consumption across the world, to achieve a healthy planet and a decent standard of living for all.