Fertility rate in England and Wales drops to new low

Women in England and Wales had a median of 1.44 youngsters between 2022 and 2023, the bottom rate on file.

Only 591,072 infants have been born in 2023, fewer than in any 12 months since 1977 and a fall of greater than 14,000 on the earlier 12 months, figures from the Office for National Statistics confirmed.

The common age of new mums and dads has elevated to 33.8 for fathers and 30.9 for moms.

Research suggests millennials, born up to the mid-Nineteen Nineties, usually are not having youngsters due to monetary pressures, not feeling prepared or having not discovered the precise companion.

While the variety of births fell to a file low final 12 months, the variety of girls of child-bearing age was at its highest ever at 12 million.

This meant the overall fertility rate in 2023 was the bottom recorded since 1938.

Greg Ceely, head of inhabitants well being monitoring on the ONS, stated whole fertility charges had been declining since 2010 however was notably notable in some age teams.

“The decline in fertility rates has been the most dramatic in the 20-24 and 25-29 age groups,” he said.

For countries to maintain their populations, the fertility rate needs to be around 2.1 children per woman.

But despite a declining fertility rate in England and Wales since the 1970s, the population has continued to grow, largely because of immigration.

In most countries around the world, fertility rates are falling.

In Scotland, the total fertility rate also fell to 1.3, and the number of babies born was also down to the lowest ever figure of 45,935, according to the National Records of Scotland.

There were 27,374 live births in Wales in 2023 and 563,561 in England.

A recent study from University College London (UCL) found that only one in four 32-year-olds in England who want children are actively trying to have them.

When researchers looked at the reasons for why, financial and work pressures were often cited for those born in 1989-90.

UCL’s Dr Alina Pelikh said the falling fertility rate highlighted the challenges faced by younger generations.

“While parents will naturally have many reasons for deciding on the timing and spacing of their children, it is likely that current cost-of-living pressures, with rising housing and childcare expenses, are also shaping the environment in which this group is making fertility decisions.”

Experts say the government could introduce some policies to help.

“The authorities may implement instant interventions… similar to providing longer paid parental go away, extra funding for childcare for working mother and father and extra funding for fertility therapies in the NHS,” stated Prof Bassel H. Al Wattar, from Anglia Ruskin University.

But insurance policies to encourage folks to have extra youngsters, similar to loans or tax incentives, “are not only expensive but have limited evidence they will raise the overall fertility rate”, stated Melinda Mills, a professor of demography and inhabitants well being on the University of Oxford.

The hottest date for giving delivery in 2023 was 28 September, which has been among the many prime 10 hottest delivery dates for a number of years.

Boxing Day is the day infants are least possible to be born on in England and Wales. It’s held that title for 11 years in a row.