SOCIETAL DEATH BY MEDIA HYSTERIA: Myth Busted: Falling Birth Rate Not Due to Less Desire To Have Children. “According to the study, the average number of children desired by women born between 1995 and 1999 was 2.1 when they were aged 20 to 24 years old. This is nearly equivalent to the 2.2 children desired by women born between 1965 and 1969 in the same age range. . . . ‘People feel more worried about the future than they might have been several decades ago. They worry about the economy, child care, and whether they can afford to have children.'”