Across the globe, adults-only spaces are on the rise. In South Korea, hundreds of cafés have declared themselves “no-kids zones.” In Japan, websites map districts where noisy children are unwelcome. Spain’s adults-only hotel sector is booming.
France, however, is determined to resist this trend. Authorities have voiced concern that the proliferation of child-free areas is fostering an intolerant society and could worsen the country’s demographic decline.
Sarah El Haïry, France’s high commissioner for children, is leading the charge against what she calls “opponents of children.” She has threatened legal action against online booking platforms promoting adults-only holidays and plans to introduce a government-backed label for child-friendly establishments—a “Michelin for children”—by the end of the year.
In an interview with Le Parisien, El Haïry said the “no-kids phenomenon … is progressing everywhere in hotels, restaurants and on public transport.” She warned that parents increasingly resort to placing children in front of screens to keep them quiet, stressing that “the family is not a problem. It is a value to be defended.”
The debate comes amid France’s falling birth rate, which stands at 1.62 children per woman, the lowest since World War II. Pro-family campaigners argue that adults-only spaces reflect a wider societal shift toward individualism and a devaluation of family life.
Ludovine de La Rochère, president of the pro-family collective La Manif pour Tous, said: “The ‘no-kids trend’ corresponds to a largely individualist mindset that emerged in the 1960s. People no longer want children and are unwilling to put up with those of others.”
Yet public opinion remains divided. A recent Odoxa poll cited by The Times UK found that 54% of French people support more adults-only spaces, while 45% oppose them. Three-quarters said children were less well-behaved than in the past, and 76% reported irritation with parents who allowed noisy behavior.
The controversy has recently reached a legal flashpoint in Maisons-Laffitte, near Paris. Judges ruled that a playground at the private Montessori International school Les Rayons de Soleil constituted a “disturbance” to neighbors and ordered it closed. The headteacher, Darcy Hull, said the school had become “a symbol of a social phenomenon where kids are no longer welcome.”
The €8,000-a-year school is now appealing the decision, which imposed fines and costs for a noise barrier. Local mayor Jacques Myard condemned the plaintiffs as “bourgeois people who do not want kids” and linked the ruling to France’s pressing demographic challenges.
El Haïry described the ban as “senseless” and pledged to continue fighting back against what she calls “the opponents of children,” emphasizing that defending family life is crucial to the nation’s future.
