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‘It’s not a nice world to bring children into’ - Births fall to the lowest level in 50 years - BBC article

178 replies

OneBusyFinch · 03/06/2026 10:35

Just reading this article and don’t think I’ve seen a thread on it.

More people are having fewer children - and it’s not just the UK, the data shows it’s a worldwide trend. Interesting reading the different perspectives.

A photograph of Stacey Waring wearing a red top standing in a barn. She is by herself wearing dark sunglasses on her head and smiling at the camera.

'It's not a nice world out there': Birth rates hit a 50-year low

Live births in England and Wales are at their lowest since 1977, while the age of first-time mothers has also risen.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgzdq23xpgo

OP posts:
JenniferBooth · 10/08/2026 14:19

TheIdlerReturns · 28/07/2026 10:46

I'm don't think you understand people who choose not to have kids when you say:

"I don't think people who don't have kids will ever know what they're missing, they'll always see the money they take as opposed to the moments that make it worthwhile".

As someone who knew I didn't want children when I was a child myself, money never came into it. It's an inherent need to not have children, just like most women have a strong, inherent, biological drive to have children. Money doesn't come into it. The child-free by choice are different to couples who say they can't afford to have children. The child-free, like me, do not want children at any cost.

Also, you can't miss something you've never had. I can never miss having children and I never regret not having them. And, I don't "see your life as hell" at all, it's your choice and one I'm sure you're happy with.

I just want to be clear to all that someone who is 'child-free' (as in by choice) is not that way because of any external factors: money, housing, lack of partner. It's like knowing your gay. It's just who you are. If I really wanted a child, no amount of climate change, doom and gloom, lack of money would probably stop me. I'd go ahead anyway. But I'm not programmed that way.

EXACTLY. Im childfree by choice but when it comes to social housing its been to my detriment. If id had kids i wouldnt be in a tiny top floor sweatbox flat. Id have been allocated a house with a garden had i reproduced somewhere between the 1990s and 2010 when i was prime child bearing age and before the Tories turned SH into an ambulance service
Not all childfree women are concentrated in the middle or middle/upper classes What we all have in common is that We Just Dont/Didnt Want Kids

JenniferBooth · 10/08/2026 14:24

Last weeks Woman magazine had an article "Why have we stopped having babies" I had the print version but thought id mention it for anyone who is on Readly

JurgenKloppsTeeth · 10/08/2026 14:34

TheThunderRolls · 03/06/2026 10:55

Is this the same BBC that promotes David Attenborough who says the world is overpopulated? I can't make up my mind if we're too many or too few.

They’re two quite different things. The world is overpopulated and that population is going to continue growing for some time as birth rates aren’t falling everywhere. People are living longer generally; it’ll be some years before women worldwide choosing to have fewer children has a discernible impact on world populations as you have to wait for older people from the earlier population increases to die first.

Significant birth rate decreases will only happen when women everywhere have access to education, birth control and the ability to earn money but there are plenty of governments and religious institutions that don’t want that to happen.

But don’t let that get in the way of your desire to bash the BBC, eh.

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