Critical analysis of social alarms about low fertility in Spain: new contexts and discourses

Abstract

This proposal critically analyzes the public and media discourse that presents low fertility in Spain as a “demographic catastrophe,” holding the behavior of young people and women—which deviates from the traditional, cultural reproductive model of modernity—responsible. In contrast to this rhetoric, sociological and demographic analyses suggest that this behavior is an adaptive response to systemic socioeconomic factors. Research in this field identifies precarious employment, difficulty in accessing housing, and a lack of work-life balance policies as fundamental causes of the current fertility decline in Spain, one of the most extreme in the world. It is argued that alarmist rhetoric is often an ideological tool that diverts attention from systemic solutions, instead promoting individualistic responses and contributing to the reproduction of the structural violence implicit in this operation. The proposal concludes that, to address low fertility, it is crucial to shift from individual blame and traditional models that reinforce inequality toward the implementation of public policies that support work-life balance and social co-responsibility.