Mexico’s national statistics agency, INEGI, recently released the results of the 2025 Intercensal Survey, showing that the country’s population has surpassed 130 million. The findings also reveal a striking trend: fertility rates have fallen considerably nationwide, with Mexico City recording the lowest rate, at just 0.8 children per woman.
Mexican families have changed over the decades. In earlier generations, larger families were more common, partly because of limited access to contraception and family planning services, lower levels of education among women and a more rigid division of labor. Men were generally seen as breadwinners, while women handled most household and caregiving responsibilities.
In an exploratory survey conducted by Mexico News Daily, 13 of 35 respondents said they did not want children. Participants were men and women ages 25 to 35 who were single, in relationships or married, and lived in nine cities: Mexico City, Toluca, Monterrey, Querétaro, León, Ensenada, Cancún, Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende. They were contacted through social media and asked one open question: “Do you want to have children? Please explain your answer.” The sample is not nationally representative, but it highlights recurring concerns: insufficient income, housing, public safety, health, the climate crisis and the lack of a stable partner.
Financial strain and absent support systems
Luis, 34, lives in Querétaro with his girlfriend. He explained why he has not considered having children:
“I had a privileged upbringing. I went to private school, had enough to eat and never lacked anything. But today, I can’t provide those things for someone else, so bringing a child into the world feels unfair. There’s no guarantee of a stable future, either. My job doesn’t guarantee a steady income or the pay raises I would need to live without financial hardship. And the outlook is bleak: water shortages, housing problems, rising costs and so on.
“Another issue is that we both work, and our families live in Toluca, so we don’t have a support network to help us care for our children. We would have to rely on daycare and extracurricular activities, which would mean additional expenses. Finally, I don’t want to repeat the way I was raised. I had everything I needed materially, but not emotionally, and I’m not ready to break those patterns yet.”
Of the 22 respondents who said they wanted children or were considering having them in the future, some said they had not yet found a stable partner or wanted to become more financially secure first. Three people in this group reported health or fertility problems that had prevented them from conceiving.
Vanesa, 29, lives in San Miguel de Allende and has been married for two years.
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“Yes, I want to have children, but first I would like to own a home so I can feel more secure,” she said. “I’m also afraid of global warming. I worry that by the time my child is 15, there could be a water crisis.”
Reasons behind decisions to remain child-free
The 13 respondents who did not want children cited financial pressures, insecurity in Mexico and global problems as their main reasons. Many said they did not earn enough to support a family. Others felt that conditions in the country would make it difficult to raise children in a healthy, safe environment. Wars, global warming and water shortages also influenced their decisions. A smaller number said they did not feel ready to become parents or lacked the patience or skills to care for a baby.
Milé, 34, is single and originally from Querétaro.
“I don’t think I have the skills or resources to be a mother,” she said. “Finding a man my age who wants to share that responsibility would also require me to be honest with myself and able to contribute equally. My jobs haven’t provided social security coverage, either, and I wouldn’t have the financial means to support children. I think bringing children into the world under these conditions would be selfish and irresponsible.”
Respondents who already had one or two children said that number was enough to provide a decent standard of living and, above all, give their children the attention they deserved. Some mothers said they did not want to experience pregnancy and its hormonal changes again because of the physical toll. Fathers said their incomes barely covered the cost of raising one or two children.
One respondent pointed to limited living space, describing a three-bedroom home with one room for the parents and one for each of two children. Housing constraints were another reason not to have more children. Some respondents also said that both parents needed to earn an income to support the family, making a return to paid work an economic priority for mothers.
Why parents are stopping at two children
Paul, 31, is married, has two children and lives in León. He explained why he and his wife decided not to have more:
“My wife and I decided to stop at two children, and it wasn’t a decision we took lightly. When you imagine starting a family, you often don’t think about numbers, square footage, school fees or how many chicken nuggets fit on a baking tray. You just think, ‘I want a lovely family.’ Then adulthood comes along and says, ‘Yes, that’s lovely. Now do the math.’
“That’s when we began to realize that having children involves much more than loving them with all your heart. There’s food, clothing, school, doctors, activities, vacations, birthdays, toys, transportation and all those little things that stop being little once you have children.
“We want to give our children a good life, but we also want some financial peace of mind rather than constantly calculating how to make it to the end of the month. We also believe that having two children allows us to give them time, attention and energy in a way that works for our family. We don’t want more children simply because there’s ‘room’ for them. We want to enjoy the children we have, support them, watch them grow, be present and give them the best we can within our means.”
Raising a family of four
How much money does a family of four need to live in Mexico?
The answer depends on where the family lives and its lifestyle. For this report, we focused on five of the cities where respondents lived: Mexico City, Querétaro, León, Monterrey and San Miguel de Allende.
Drawing on the National Household Income and Expenditure Survey (ENIGH), labor-market information from Data México and reference prices, Mexico News Daily estimated that a family of four living in an owner-occupied home in these cities needs between 29,500 and 48,000 Mexican pesos per month. This budget covers everyday needs such as food, clothing, public school expenses, transportation, personal hygiene products, utilities, communications and health care, while setting aside money for emergencies.
The following table breaks down expenses by category and compares costs across the five cities included in this article. Monterrey has the highest basic utility costs, while León has the lowest overall costs among the cities examined.
How do average wages compare?
Data México reports average monthly earnings in these cities, including both formal and informal employment.
The comparison reveals a gap between average earnings and the estimated budget for a family of four. Even two average incomes combined fall short of the amount needed to cover the projected expenses and save for emergencies. To make up the difference, some families seek additional income by selling products through catalogs or preparing food for sale. Others cut spending on health care, food and recreation.
Insecurity in Mexico
Safety concerns weighing on parents
Eduardo and Ana are married but have not yet decided whether to have children. They live in Metepec and regularly travel to Toluca for work.
“I don’t want children for one simple reason: insecurity,” Eduardo said. “The country gets worse every year, and more people go missing every day. If I’m already worried about the situation, I can’t imagine being responsible for a little person. I would rather avoid that worry.”
Perceptions of insecurity also emerged among respondents’ reasons for not having children. The 2026 National Survey of Victimization and Perceptions of Public Security (ENVIPE) does not measure an individual’s risk of becoming a crime victim, nor does it replace crime-rate data. It does, however, show that 74% of adults considered their state unsafe during the survey period.
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The highest proportions were recorded in Estado de Mexico, at 90%; Morelos, at 88.7%; Tabasco, at 87.6%; Guanajuato, at 85.9%; and Puebla, at 83.3%. The lowest were in Coahuila, at 27.8%; Yucatán, at 35.5%; and Aguascalientes, at 41%.
Rising crime and missing persons statistics
The 2026 ENVIPE, which covers crimes committed in 2025, reported the highest estimated crime incidence rates in Mexico City, at 68,154 crimes per 100,000 inhabitants; Puebla, at 41,876; and Mexico State, at 40,915. The survey’s crime categories included theft and robbery, fraud, extortion, threats, assault, kidnapping and sexual offenses.
According to a report by the Mexican Institute for Human Rights and Democracy (IMDHD), Mexico’s national missing persons registry listed 134,257 people as missing as of May 16, 2026. That number rose to 135,048 by June 16. The report recorded 12,632 disappearances in 2024 and 12,373 in 2025, and indicated that the trend in 2026 pointed toward similarly high numbers.
As of May 16, 2026, the five states with the largest cumulative numbers of registered missing persons were Mexico State, with 14,648; Tamaulipas, with 13,787; Jalisco, with 12,765; Michoacán, with 7,782; and Nuevo León, with 7,476. Together, they accounted for 42% of the national total, according to Red Lupa’s analysis of the National Registry of Missing and Unlocated Persons (RNPDNO).
Mexico recorded 11,586 victims of intentional homicide from January through August 2026, according to figures reported by the federal Security Cabinet and the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System. Although President Claudia Sheinbaum highlighted a decline in homicides earlier in the year, safety concerns remain part of many Mexicans’ daily lives.
Motherhood as a choice
The evolution of women’s roles
Women have always worked and played an important role in society. The Industrial Revolution, which began in the mid-18th century, expanded their participation in factory work and paid employment. During World War I and World War II, their roles in industry became even more prominent as many filled jobs left by men who had gone to fight.
Over time, advances in labor rights, greater access to higher education and the availability of contraception expanded women’s opportunities and their ability to make decisions about their lives, including whether to become mothers, when to have children and how many to have.
Motherhood is now a choice, not an obligation. Women may pursue a career, raise a family or do both. For some of the mothers interviewed, returning to work was both a financial necessity and a professional choice.
Personal perspectives on motherhood and career breaks
Zayra, 32, lives in Monterrey with her husband and their two children.
“At first, I only wanted one child so I could give them the attention and care they needed for their development. But six months later, I became pregnant again,” she said. “It was a shock because I didn’t know how I would manage twice the expenses. I had my second child, but I decided to undergo sterilization so I wouldn’t have any more.
“I made that decision because I struggled badly with hormonal changes during both pregnancies, and there were concerns about preeclampsia. Having children is the most beautiful thing that can happen to you, but it’s also a lot of work and very tiring. Finances also play a role in deciding not to have another child.”
Kiev, 32, is from Querétaro, married, and has two daughters.
“Yes, I’ve thought about having one more, but I’ve practically ruled it out, mainly for financial reasons. Babies are very expensive,” she said. “On top of that, my house only has two bedrooms, and we would need to expand it sooner to live more comfortably.
“Then there’s the career break I’m taking. I wanted to look after the house and the babies myself, with the intention of returning to work once they’re a little older. Having another baby would add more years to that break.”
Rejecting social scripts and facing future challenges
Marcela, 34, lives in Querétaro with her partner and has decided not to have children.
“I don’t like children. I’ve never known how to interact with them or spend time with them, so having one seems strange to me, and I find it difficult to play with them. I don’t have a maternal instinct,” she said.
“I also don’t want to feel obligated to follow a social script of getting married and having children. I firmly believe children should be fully wanted and planned for, not something you have ‘just because’ or because it’s the next step.
“The third reason is the situation in Mexico and the world in general. The thought that having a child would mean never feeling at ease again because of the country we live in and its insecurity — especially if the child were a girl — is a major factor.
Wages, security and the environment
“There’s also the economic situation. Wages make things difficult, and building financial security keeps getting harder. Add the environmental situation, the wars happening now and tensions with the United States, and I can’t picture a bright future for a child.”
Declining fertility poses long-term challenges for Mexico. An aging population will require more health care, caregiving services and sustainable social protection systems. But the answer is not to pressure people into having more children. For those who want to start a family, the challenge is to create conditions that make raising children compatible with stable earnings, affordable housing, childcare, safety, reproductive health care and a more equitable division of caregiving responsibilities.
The interviews in this report do not represent Mexico’s entire population, but they reveal a shared tension. For many people, the question is no longer simply whether they want children, but whether they can have them without sacrificing their stability, health, careers or peace of mind.
María Ruiz is the Director of Digital Marketing at Mexico News Daily. She enjoys photographing her hometown of San Miguel de Allende in her spare time.
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