An AFL legend and local radio star has unloaded on Gen Z and millennial Aussies, branding them “selfish” for not having children in an unscripted radio rant that left his fellow host baffled.
Former Adelaide Crows star Stephen Rowe embarked on the impassioned pro-natal diatribe on the FIVEaa station on Wednesday after broadcaster Stacey Lee read out ABS data that revealed Australia’s birthrate had slumped to just 1.5 children per woman.
“That just tells me how selfish our society is,” he said.
“Back in my day, you fell in love with a beautiful woman. You kept a full-time job, you had some fun at night, you had a baby.
“You either rented or bought a house. You worked hard, actually turned up to work and worked hard. Built a life and a family together and everything else was insignificant.
“Nowadays, I’ve got to have the holiday, the Instagram account, I’ve got to have the clothes and I’ve got to go to the Adelaide Cup, the Melbourne Cup, the this cup. I see it in my kids.”
Lee interjected and said younger Australians could not afford housing, which she credited to the sharp fall off in family formation.
“You cannot afford a mortgage these days on one income … that is not an option for my generation,” she said.
“How about live within your means?” Rowe said in response.
“Only buy a house you can afford.
“I think modern people are selfish. I do. You want all of these things and you want them all today. You (Lee) are like my kids … mate, fall in love, have a baby, and it will work itself out because you’re in love and you’ve got a kid.”
The ABS data, released on Wednesday, revealed a consistent decline in birthrates since the early 1990s, though there was some uplift in the early and mid 2000s.
There were 286,998 births registered in Australia in 2023, resulting in a total fertility rate of 1.5 babies per woman, the ABS said.
In 1993, the TFR was 1.86.
“The record low total fertility rate is because there were fewer births in most states and territories,” ABS head of demography statistics Beidar Cho said.
“The long-term decline in fertility of younger mums as well as the continued increase in fertility of older mums reflects a shift towards later child-bearing.
Australia Birth Rate Poll“Together, this has resulted in a rise in median age of mothers to 31.9 years and a fall in Australia’s total fertility rate.”
Pollster Kos Samaras said Australia’s falling birthrate “should not be a surprise”.
“Fifty-four per cent of 18-34-year-olds we interview report to us that they do not plan to have children,” he wrote on X on Thursday.
“The main drivers? Cost – housing.”
A replacement fertility rate is 2.1 children per woman.
Declining birthrates are a common feature across the developed world.
Italy’s fertility rate is 1.2, according to the European nation’s statistics agency, while Canada’s has slumped to 1.26.
Lee reacted with puzzled shock to Rowe’s outburst.
“I’m a woman in my 30s who doesn’t have a child and you just called me selfish,” she said.
Rowe did not back down from his position.
“I said the young generation are selfish,” he said.
“They want all of these things, they want to go on overseas holidays five times and stay at luxury hotels and have the best clothes and the best cars and all that sort of stuff.
“How about settle down and have a family? Wouldn’t that be a great little thought. Call me old fashioned.”
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