U.K. birthrate hits 20 year low

[SunshineHello]

“Since 2011, the number of babies born has been on an almost constant downward trend, falling each year from 2011 to 2020 before a small rise in 2021 as pandemic restrictions were eased. The latest figures show another “considerable” decline last year, from 624,828 births to 605,479.”

This take the TFR to the lowest rate on record for the U.K. - 1.5

I wonder how much the birth rate will drop before it levels out.

The cost of housing and childcare are a major factor among my peers.

I currently have one in nursery and if I had two it would be ~ £4,000 pcm. That’s a £75,000 salary. To make a decision to do that is… complex.

My eldest is 20. She has no plans to reproduce at all, and I support that.

@LyingWitchInTheWardrobe thank you for your nice words, and also I quite fantasise about being a lying witch in the wardrobe, I bet she has a nice life!

I'm so sorry to hear that rhubarb. I think it's incredibly common.

Also, you are right, rhubarb and custard is delicious.

Ok, so when would you pick?

@LyingWitchInTheWardrobe Because talk is incredibly cheap when you never have to back it up. Time and time again on here people say they 'wouldn't have kids if they were doing it now', secure in the fact they've already got kids and it's a not a decision they ever have to make or prove in any way. It's meaningless.

I agree.

100% agree!! Her firstborn was just after 9/11!!

I think people are taking this a bit personally. People who say THEY might be much more reticent to have kids now are not saying NO ONE ELSE should make a different choice FFS. People are allowed to express an opinion about themselves. Let's face it we'll be fucked when we're elderly if no one has kids now.

It's not sticking at two that is the issue. It's the vast increase in people having no children.

This is due to the fact that it is too expensive for many people to raise a young family in London now. It is common for young singles/ couples to live in London, before moving further out when it's time to start a family. It is unaffordable for most to afford a family size home in the city.

Demographics is destiny. Good luck to the future inheritors of Britain, whoever you may be. Try not to squabble too much 😉

Well looks like we'll import people from outside of Europe who we'll pay slave wages as they look after the dying native population. Europe has given up on itself it seems. I'm starting to wonder if we'll become a poverty stricken, pointless version of USA. An airport.

Western Europe, particularly England, is undergoing a decline of unprecedented proportions. This is evidenced by a reduction in innovation, productivity, IQ, birth rates, social cohesion, and economic stability. Poland is set to surpass us in terms of economic growth. One could argue that the cost of housing, cost of childcare, income inequality, inflation, lockdowns, open borders, BREXIT, the introduction of birth control, porn, phones, the loss of religion, access to abortion and modern feminism has contributed to this decline. Despite blaming the aforementioned factors, the reality is that we are still experiencing this decline. Many middle class Europeans have simply opted out because they fancy it. Poverty stricken Victorians didn't blame poor housing or lack of childcare. The middle class will gradually transition into the working class, and the migrants we bring into Europe tend to be male, which is not without its own set of issues, see image. What will become of Britain if conscientious, liberal university types continue to opt out of reproducing, as they are? Who will carry the torch for the climate change activists if they leave the earth child free and those who don't believe in climate change continue to have children? I'm a bit worried, bros.

Poverty stricken Victorians didn't blame poor housing or lack of childcare.
Goodness.
I suggest you read the below to get a view of poverty stricken victorian women https://www.amazon.co.uk/Five-Untold-Lives-Killed-Ripper/dp/0857524488?ref=d6k_applink_bb_dls&dplnkId=24ada18e-2988-440f-b889-2dcb2bca2591

They didn't have effective contraception, women and children were the property of their husbands, they had very little control over their lives. Who knows what they blamed for their plight?

We don't! We're forced out of the workplace and nobody gives a s**t about it

Nothing wrong with the workhouse. It served its purpose

I never wanted more than one. Now I have my son, I am feeling content and not longing for any more children.

Never been called a bro before, so that's new.

Louise Perry has had a lot to says about the demographic shifts we might expect given the marked differences between those opting in and out of parenthood. So, those who are religious are more likely to have more children that those who are, say, socially liberal ... Not that those two are mutually exclusive. But the effect of these differences now may be shape voting habits and policy making in the future which, as you say, don't align with current ideas.

@justsayingthat except it's also happening nationally..

This!! Forcing kids into that situation is cruelty.

I don't think it's a huge conspiracy. Lots of people are realising that you can be blissfully happy without ever having children.

I imagine people who are blissfully happy without children probably weren't that fussed about having them in the first place. On a thread in which people have laid out their own barriers, maternity care, workplace discrimination, housing prices, cost of living... it's clear that smaller family sizes aren't simply down to lack of desire.

I think a lot of people are understandably opting out of having kids. It’s hard work, expensive and time consuming. I have one, money isn’t really a consideration but we do spend a lot on her. We have no family support (they are lovely just very far way) and tbh she takes so much time and energy that I simply can’t face having another one as much as I love the one I have.

I do know a few women who would have liked to have kids but never met anyone suitable.

<cough> <cough>
All this doom-mongering is vaguely amusing, though. Carry on.

I don't know if I'm just being particularly dim here, but how do those graphs relate to the consequences of a declining total fertility rate?