Birth rate hits record low - 1.49 children per woman

[MidnightPatrol]

The ONS has released its latest data on the UK birthrate.

The number of children per women has dropped from 1.55 in 2022 to 1.49 in 2022 - the lowest on record.

This is the lowest number of births in the UK since 2002 - when the population was 10 million people smaller.

Do we think this problem will inevitably worsen? Are there particular reasons people are having less children (unique to the UK vs the rest of the world?).

Should we be taking steps to increase it / stop it reducing further?

my brother is in sunny australia and has had no problem making friends. who knows maybe dreary british weather is one thing to blame for our struggle to socialise and form relationships? jk😆

i have been noticing a lot of mention about reviving christianity on places like on twitter, podcasts even on mn. although I think it's unlikely this will happen I wanted to give my 2cents as a second gen brit just in case. I had a really religious upbringing and I have seen firsthand religion pushing people into marriages they don't want and it can be absolutely soul crushing. truly patriarchal societies are pretty miserable and the men are never satisfied they always want more (wives). It can get much much more dark, more so than the horror of being single at 45 😁.

reigious groups have more babies, but are they actually living in a more happy fulfilling and progressive way? i have fam who will judge westerners for being loose, having no morals, not dressing modestly etc but they could return home and instead they choose to live in england. why? shamima begum is desperate to get out of syria and come back to uk. why? when my mum came here she was so stunned by everything functioning like magic she said traffic lights were a thing to behold and she couldn't believe how orderly everyone way. people don't know how good they have it here and i've always appreciated england's subtle atheistic vibe and england has given me my freedom. it's a rare thing and seems a shame to lose it. surely there must be another way?

@IwishIcouldfinishabook State pensions have recently been increased. Older pensioners her far less than people retiring now. And younger people need far fewer years of paying NI to get a state pension. There will always be a state pension. Even before it was introduced local areas paid pensions. But the age you get it will rise.

@2024theplot

Thanks

Yea I do understand. Both my dds live a distance away

Wow @Foxblue No one has summed up my feelings this accurately before. Thank you!

@Foxblue @countdowntonap It makes you wonder how the heck our parents got through bringing us up, doesn’t it?! Perhaps they secretly hate us. 🤣

The birth rate is dropping across the world, but the UK population is still increasing due to immigration.

That is not quite true.
The number of births (694,685) is larger than the number of deaths (666,659) 2021

This is expected to change in the next couple of years.

That may have been your experience, it wasn't ours.

My mum was a devout Christian, divorced, her Church took the side of her husband, despite the fact it was common knowledge he hit her, he then refused to pay any mtce and fucked off to NZ, the Church gave her nothing.

Fast forward 3 decades, partner died, the local church (different one) did SFA to help, i have nothing but contempt for Christianity in the UK, its far removed from any biblical teaching.

As for Family values? BS, the whole of the Church of England is founded on a guy who killed his wives & even now women aren't allowed into certain roles.

Birth rates are falling because quite simply the majority of people cannot afford children as many wish not to work and have their kids brought up by a nursery or even relatives.
Many DGPs have to work too or have health issues.

Having kids, like much else, is for the few who are well off.

Sigh.

Costello of living for young people. 😔 We should IMO be subsiding childcare such that all earners get it.

And the housing system is broken.

It had to have an impact eventually

We have decided to stop at 2 kids. It's a shame as I loved having all my sisters growing up but I just can't afford it. We've got a mortgage on our small 3 bed and there really isn't enough room for more than one bed in each of the bedrooms. Also to cope with my maternity pay being crap we had to use credit cards to get by. I've now paid everything back but can't imagine our finances taking a hit again. It's so expensive to have kids now. It feels like schools are always asking for money for non uniform days, charities or school trips. Then there the price of child care for under 3s.

Highly probable it's related to the affordability of living.

People will postpone having children if they know they can't afford to look after them for the time being.

Well, our nursery just increased their fees from £1400 to £1600 per month. And my salary is £1900 per month after tax, pension, student loan etc. I am also a single mom, my ex who has 0 interest in his child has 50% custody in name only just to avoid contributing to our child’s maintenance. All my friends, mid thirties don’t want to have children because 1 - rubbish system and 2 - rubbish fathers

Yes, it certainly has, I agree. Not helped by wages being held at low rates. The minimum wage is so low, that for those with children, this has to be topped up with other benefits.
Someone upthread mentioned that back in earlier years, wages were higher compared to housing costs. That was true and I think people were less reticent about having children back then too.

ive actually no words for your statement about 14 year olds?! Is this how you were/your child is ?? As I can say for certain that both me and my sister did not behave like this nor either of my DC, nieces/nephews. And as for “most adults have very little contact or respect for their parents” what a sweeping untruthful statement…… not one of my friends are in this situation, infact only one person I know is on reduced contact with their parent due to DV.

Yes I don’t recognise any of that. Must be a personal reflection

Fantastic news! The world is overpopulated enough.

My generation of my own family me (1), brother (0), 2 cousins (2 each) 2 cousins (1 each) , so 7 children between the 6 of us. All by choice, no fertility issues.
DH family us 1, brother and 3 cousins 2 each 1 cousin 4, 1 cousin childless as she had no LTR in her childbearing years, 1 cousin none we know of, but he's had a colourful life! So 11 between 7 of them
DS is an only and so are several of his friends and classmates over the years.
However, I also know a few families with 4-6 kids

The average but a lot of families have 6 plus kids, a lot have none. It all depends on different variables, have been reading about this. In some cultures the more births the better, also in certain areas with teenage pregnancies and then multiple children, a cycle of big families, then at the other end preferences not to have them.or adopt. It does seem some groups are having more kids whilst the majority aren't so it works out at that average, guess it always has. X

Why wouldn’t they be? Do tigers need to be here? What about gorillas?

We are all animals and a product of nature. What a ridiculous thing to say.

For us it’s a multitude of reasons to stick to one child; child care costs, potential need to move house because husband WFH now and the cost of the move coupled with increased monthly outgoings on a bigger house, no ‘village’ to help with childcare when both of us work full time, working for companies that aren’t as flexible as they could be to help with this and overall the general lifestyle we have now would be vastly different if we had a second child. We have chosen to stick to one and give our child all that we can give them and afford ourselves a nice life as well.

In your opinion.

Who is going to look after you when you get old? Who is going to pay for it? They have a massive issue in Japan.

A lot of families with 6+ kids? I can't think of one solitary family with that many children in my area.

why should every individual have child/ren? I cannot get my head around why this is not regulated given its significant implications for the child, family, society, and the world. Why do we assume that every individual is capable and having the means of raising a child? Why is this an innate right rather than an earned status? Also think that those who would be most capable and financially able to raise a child are now increasingly those who opt out of having a child for obvious reasons — the world is turning into an idiocracy as those who populate most are those who are less capable of raising children.

I’m definitely seeing an increase amongst my peers of people stopping after one child. Also, amongst my classmates from school, only about half of us have kids. We’re 32-33, so I’m not sure how that stacks against the national average.