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?

@Abeona I agree that this could be a factor, albeit possibly not the main one. Certainly part of our decision to stick with one child stemmed from the fact that some NCT friends of ours went on to have a second child with a profound chromosomal disorder, which means their entire lives will now be devoted to caring for him. It felt to us (especially as older parents) that we’d lucked out the first time round with DD and didn’t want to ‘spin the wheel’ again and risk something like that happening to us.

Having worked with severely autistic children myself as a teacher, I was also very aware of the manifold issues around neurodiversity, and the lack of genuine support that is in place. Many teacher friends of mine have been very cautious around planning their families for this reason.

It will result in issues as the elderly need care. Even if they saved up to afford care, if there aren't people to fill the carer positions that money means shit all.

People in rural areas are going to struggle more and more to get carers.

Unfortunately childcare is too expensive and it seems that most people nowadays with more than 2 children (babies or primary school age) are either unemployed or wealthy.

It is not a lack of families with more than 2 children that is the issue.
The issue is more and more families have 1 child. And more and more women and men are having no children.

True - but i still believe much of agriculture will be fully automatised in my lifetime. We are arable farmers, we still need a bum on the seat at the moment, but auto steer has been common place for at least 15 years. It wont be long till the giant machines are replaced by small remotely controlled ‘tractors” probably from the farm office!
Our neighbours have robotic milking which isn't without its problems, but means less staff.
Fruit and veg picking relies on immigrant workers as the uk workforce don’t tend to be keen on the wages or weather conditions, but much of it is now automated. The days of Londoners coming to Kent for their summer holidays and helping with the harvest are long gone I’m afraid.
AI will without a doubt replace many jobs, I read recently that AI Doctors had proved very successful in trials as it takes away human prejudices and doesn’t get bored! Robotic surgery has become common place. We just won’t need as many people working, thats the reality of the next half century.

We wanted to send to Independent school so could only afford two, but if the Government had invested in State schools adequately then we would have had more. 3 at least.

We have one DS and would love another. However, it’s just childcare is so expensive. We’re currently paying £1.5k a month and we’ll get the 15 free hours later this year, but that doesn’t really put a dent in our bills as everything else has increased.

If childcare or bills such as our mortgage, gas and electricity etc came down instead of going up by 10% each year, we’d go for 3!

Well people are just doing what Mumsnet says
There are constant cries on here of 'why did you have another child when you can't afford it?'

Also what the Tory government wanted. They made that pretty clear with the benefit cap at 2 kids.

People are doing as they were told

Will it not help the housing crisis and the environment for people to have less kids?

Now we just need to legalise euthanasia and we can bring down the costs of the NHS and social care too.

I can't see it as a wholly bad thing. I have 2 teen DC. If they choose not to have kids I will be OK with that.

Can't have your cake and eat it though. I think we are going to need quite a few young healthy immigrants to keep public services running

As ye sow so shall ye reap

Yup, I know a number of people who feel, looking at the hand that our friends with the ASD child have been dealt, that they've been lucky and they won't risk it again. The realisation that if things go badly you could be caring for a dependant child for the rest of your life is sobering. I agree it's not the main factor, but I know it's been a factor among a couple of women I know.

Thank you for clarifying - it's a while since I listened to the researcher.

This was one factor for me (although not the main one) in sticking to one child. I have a severely disabled sibling, and know for a fact that I couldn’t have coped with that myself as a parent, particularly with the lack of support from the government. Having a second felt like an unnecessary roll of the dice.

People always talk about the cost of raising a child but I think it’s more complicated than that. I can afford another one but I just don’t want anymore children, I have family who are happily childfree because they just don’t want kids, I also have family who just never met anyone to have kids with. I think for a chunk of people having kids is an opportunity cost that may not have been as obvious 30 years ago. More people are realising they don’t actually have to have kids at all even if they are happily married etc. i think people with at least one existing child are more likely to have a smaller family than they may have liked because they are fully aware of the cost. Also people are having kids later so obviously you have fewer years to actively have children.

As older parents this factored into our thinking too tbh. Having DD really exposed my flaws and limits as a parent. I wasn’t willing to have another one when my capacity with a NT able bodied child is already at it’s limit.

This.

Fewer and fewer women are falling for it.

"The desire to procreate is largely instinctive and not much governed by our frontal cortex. In the past, you knew you could get pregnant, but that man looked damn tasty (or, in many cases, he held you down and did it to you regardless of what you wanted) and you ended up pregnant regardless of what you want. Now, with contraception, you have to decide to have a baby (relatively rare accidents notwithstanding). Without a hormonal drive, people make the decision in a logical way - can we afford it? Is it a good idea? Logically, having children isn't a good idea for women - even the best pregnancy will affect your health and in some cases having a baby can kill you. So without the 'I must have a baby right now' effect or the 'Oh fuck it, I accidentally got up the duff' effect, population inevitably drops. "

@BallaiLuimni this is a very interesting contention, and not one I recall hearing before.

Lots of people focussing on women making the choice not to have children.

Most of my childfree friends who are my age (late forties/early fifties) are not childfree by choice. Some suffered infertility, but the majority did not find a partner before it was too late. They tried, but they simply could not find decent men who wanted to commit or have children.

In our twenties our mothers and society were constantly telling us ‘Don’t settle down! Focus on your career! Go travelling! The world is your oyster! Don’t marry the first man who comes along, plenty more fish in the sea!’

In our thirties, it was like the moment the music stops in musical chairs. Those going out with decent men suddenly started getting married and having babies. Those who were between relationships suddenly found the men who weren’t getting married now wanted to date women in their twenties. Our mothers and society started wagging fingers and saying ‘Don’t leave it too late!

My single friends found themselves accused of being ‘too picky’ by their families, and told they simply weren’t trying hard enough. Remember Bridget Jones sitting surrounded by the ‘smug marrieds’? Friends laboriously ploughing through online dating found the majority of men wanting to date them were fifteen or twenty years older.

In our forties I have too many friends who are unhappily single and childless and on anti depressants because of it. Meanwhile, the single males of this age are still dating women in their twenties, not feeling the need to commit because they don’t need to. They can have babies whenever they like, if they decide to.

It’s all so unfair. Other posters have touched on the ‘poor quality’ of younger generations of men, and I really feel for the young women entering the ‘dating market’ nowadays. It’s really not at all surprising that the birth rate is falling.

Apparently every day, globally 220,000 more people are born than die. Our planet can't cope with expanding population indefinitely. The environment is being ruined. So I can't say I'm worried about a drop in the UK birth rate when you look at the world as a whole.

Having children will become the privilege of the very wealthy.
You already see having 3, 4 + children is becoming a status symbol (rich footballers, chefs etc...).

I think there needs to be a whole heap less judgement around women going it alone. A lot of my childless friends want the children more than the relationship and I wish they would just have a baby on their own.

I don't see a problem. There are too many damn people. Now get off my lawn.

Yes!

If you had kids they will be expected to care for their elders. Unless the elders have the cash to.pay, it will be a race to the top.

If you didn't have kids you will have more cash anyway.

Our kids are sure as shit not going to become minimum wage carers for aging boomers. Fuck that shit.

Re immigration we will need to be more attractive to get the valuable ones. Why would an immigrant with a choice of countries go to the UK unless they can get affordable housing & a decent wage. My parents emigrated as there was no work in their country so they had to make a life elsewhere & the UK was attractive. Also more young people may emigrate.

I have four children. Have been criticised for 'overpopulating the world' but our country does need educated tax payers to put into the system and support our very elderly (and getting older) population.

I wouldn't change my decision for the world. They have brought immense personal joy as well as huge challenges. We are close knit because we haven't always been able to afford expensive entertainment so have done lots together.

The key is that it was my choice. I choose to sacrifice what was once a good career and the material stuff that went with it for them. I'm lucky enough to own my house through premature inheritance and I think this is the answer. Without this I would have been completely unable to bring them up properly. I would have had fewer of them.

Until the car crash housing situation in this country is resolved then people aren't going to have more children. Even if our country needs it to function.