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Award-winning journalist Camilla Cavendish embarks on a compassionate yet frank investigation into why we’re having fewer children, how it's changing the world and what we should do about it

Camilla Cavendish travels across cultures and continents to investigate one of the most intimate decisions we all make – whether or not to have children. In Britain, one in five couples have no children, and almost half of all families have only one. The populations of China, Japan, Russia and Italy are shrinking rapidly. Poland and South Korea could all but vanish from the map. Pro-natalists wail that feminism has killed the family. Governments throw money at childcare subsidies. Would-be grandparents wring their hands at the apparent selfishness of the young. But the conversation is in the wrong place.

As birth rates plummet, Cavendish offers a startling blend of data and stories to uncover what is really driving the baby gap. Meeting people from a diverse range of ethnicities and experiences, she reveals a tapestry of motivations – from a dating recession to a loss of faith in the future; from the pressures of modern parenting to infertility struggles; from the atomisation of society to a deeply human instinct to mirror each other.

Interviewing voices from across the new political divide, Cavendish warns against weaponising babies. She encounters women going it alone and men who’ve missed out, finds communities quietly bucking the trend and speaks to scientists on the verge of extending the biological clock.

By examining the profound implications of a world where fewer children are born, Generation Maybe argues for a future in which we respect the happily childfree, while genuinely empowering those who long for children. Incisive and humane, this is essential reading for anyone who cares about the world we may – or may not – choose to make for the next generation.

© Camilla Cavendish 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026