Child-free holidays have once again come in for criticism in France, where some politicians are calling for a ban on spaces that do not welcome youngsters.
While a ban on child-free resorts is not yet on the table, authorities are taking the issue seriously, witness a drive to promote family-friendly resorts. The French high commissioner for childhood, Sarah El Haïry, has launched a Family Choice award to encourage French parents to vote for the best places to go on holiday as a family. Speaking to Parents magazine, she rejected what she called the “real violence” with which “children and parents are being pushed out” by “growing intolerance”. She explained that the new accolade for family-oriented destinations is intended to “put children back at the heart of public space.”
What’s the problem?
Some may be surprised at the vehemence of her language or question the necessity of pro-child government action in what is already one of Europe’s highest birthrate nations. According to Travel Companies Union data, only between three and five per cent of the French tourism marketplace is child-free – a low proportion compared to Spain next door. Véronique Siegel, UMIH union hotel sector president, told the Guardian that child-free hotels are a tiny part of the market, catering to niche demand. She also pointed out that, however small the numbers, customers will simply go elsewhere, arguing: “if there are none left in France because we’re told it’s illegal, would they go to neighbouring European countries, or further afield?”
Yet, as the birthrate slips and President Macron advocates a “demographic rearmament”, despite her strong words, El Haïry is being accused by others of taking it too easy on the child-free sector. Socialist senator and former families minister Laurence Rossignol, who in 2024 proposed making it illegal for premises to refuse families, has gone as far as saying child-free policies “institutionalise and legitimise intolerance” by permitting an attitude that says, “I don’t like children and I don’t want to see them.”
Birth table, French edition! By the data of January-June, the TFR of France is set to decline to 1.58 children per woman this year and 1.55 if you only look at France without its overseas departements. pic.twitter.com/gY2rEQOx56
— Birth Gauge (@BirthGauge) July 31, 2025
Why holiday child-free?
For others, it is more complex. Research shows that many who opt for child-free holidays are not necessarily anti-child. Those such as teachers, who work with children the rest of year-round, simply need a break. One teacher who spoke to Travel Tomorrow said, unless she takes child-free, she finds herself having to grit her teeth at attractions where “parents abdicate all responsibility and let their children run riot, interrupting others’ peace.”
At a music festival recently, one festival goer said, “Two children under five were ripping protection around some railing, causing it to blow around, turn into a giant sail, pull over the fencing and ruin a picnic area that the festival organisers had worked hard to create. Their parents sat far away, completely failed to do anything and even encouraged them, because while they were playing, it meant the parents were free to relax.”
The right to retreat?
But it’s about more than bad behaviour, whether from parents or children. Child-free breaks are often preferred by educators and those who work intensively in people-facing jobs year-long. And increasingly, child-free holidays are perceived as a luxury option that gives busy and exhausted parents a much-needed treat too, and a chance to spend time as a couple.
For those who feel childless, rather than child-free, such as the grieving or those experiencing baby loss, time away at an adults-only resort that promises fewer emotional triggers can be part of a healing process.
Rossignol, however, appears to disagree with the right to retreat. “To not like children is to not like humanity itself.” She is now calling for a parliamentary debate on her proposal to legislate against establishments discriminating against children like “troublesome pets.”
