Young people across the world are willing to marry and have children if they can afford to do so, according to a new UN report launched this week.

More than two-thirds of young adults selected an ideal relationship and living arrangement that includes marriage, according to the report of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) on the findings of its 2025-2026 Demographic Futures Survey.

The survey covered more than 108,000 internet-connected people aged 18-39 across 73 countries and territories.

Across most regional groupings, a family with two children is the most commonly reported ideal family size. Larger ideal family sizes are more common in West and Central Africa and in East and Southern Africa, according to the report “Lives, Choices and Futures: What young people want and what shapes their decisions about relationships and parenthood.”

The highest-rated preconditions for feeling ready for parenthood are being financially secure (88 per cent), having stable employment (87 per cent) and feeling emotionally ready (85 per cent).

On average, female respondents rate each of the preconditions as more important than male respondents, according to the report.

The joy and happiness children bring is the highest-rated reason for having children, with 80 per cent of respondents rating it as important. This pattern is observed among both respondents with and without children. Reasons related to government encouragement and contributions to the future workforce are among the lowest-rated reasons for having children, it showed.

Economic and housing constraints constitute the highest-rated barrier to having children, with 72 percent of respondents rating this as important. Lack of a suitable partner and health and reproductive factors are the next highest-rated barriers, according to the report.

“The findings are striking: most young people aspire to partnership and parenthood,” said UNFPA Executive Director Diene Keita at the launch of the report. “Some people have suggested that younger generations are rejecting marriage and family life. But our data shows this is simply not true.”

However, many young people do not feel the conditions are in place to achieve these goals, she said.

“They are asking for the conditions that would make real choice possible: decent work, affordable housing, health care, sexual and reproductive health services, childcare support, parental leave, and gender equality at work and at home.”

Simply put, it is uncertainty, not unwillingness, that is making young people question whether they can start a family, said Keita.

“That distinction matters. If we misread the problem, we risk designing the wrong solution.”

A rights-based response to demographic change is about ensuring every person has the agency, support and opportunity to make some of the most intimate and consequential decisions of their lives, she said.

“More than 100,000 young people have spoken. It’s time to listen. In a fragmented world with shrinking resources, we need for all future generations to thrive – for people and the planet.”

• A Tell Media / Xinhua report