UK fertility rate drops by 18.8% in 12 years

[MidnightPatrol]

The UK has the fastest falling fertility rate in the G7.

2022 saw the lowest number of births for 20 years.

The current TFR is 1.49 births per woman.

What do you think the reason for this is, and what could be done to reverse the trend?

news.sky.com/story/amp/britains-fertility-rate-falling-faster-than-any-other-g7-country-with-austerity-thought-to-be-a-principal-factor-13232314

Cost of living, housing crisis, female education etc have all played their part but a cause that's often left out is the near-eradication of teenage pregancy

I think its the environment/micro plastics/screens/chemicals were exposed to.

Loads of chemicals impact the endocrine system including makeup, cleaning products etc.

I can't afford a child so haven't had any

Isn’t artificial intelligence around the corner and going to fix this issue

my friend says his seo/freelance writing job is already being cut thanks to ChatGPT

soon there will be no need for existing humans

Perhaps it's no longer seen as an expectation by women, and they wish to do other things.

It's not just the cost of childcare. It's also the fact that almost all parents are forced into paying these enormous childcare costs because it's no longer viable for most families to survive on one salary.

Well, i can't work due to both mental and physical health issues, so even if i was able to cope with having a kid, i don't think tax payers would appreciate being the ones paying for me to get a council house to move out from living with my dad who def wouldn't want a baby in the house, and paying all the costs of looking after and raising said child in benefits.
Given the housing market, inflation, cost of living, childcare costs etc i doubt many people can afford to have kids.
Add on the fact the planet is massively over populated and dying under global warming etc the last thing it needs is more people living on it.
Throw in the fact several countries are at war and the significant threat of it descending in to world war 3, why would anyone want to bring a kid in to this world anyway.

Childcare and housing costs in the UK will have some impact, but the reality is exactly the same is happening all over the world, except for sub-Saharan Africa. Even the nordics with cheap child care and loads of parental leave is facing exactly the same fall in birth rates

That plus it's becoming more and more acceptable for women to be more equal to men in the workplace, and it isn't just the expected now that they stay home and pop out and look after kids while men do all the important jobs.

It's complicated. House prices, nursery costs and general cost of living are a factor but we also have a younger generation who do not want to compromise on their pre child lifestyles, choosing pets over children in some cases, choosing a single child to minimise impact. The trend towards singletons is common across Europe even where there is subsidised childcare.

My dc are all saying they only want one because they don't want the cost of two, and they openly admit it's lifestyle related, holidays, gadgets, eating out ...

According to Stephen's Shaw's documentary Birthgap, something like 80% of women who were childless at 40 HAD wanted children, but had not found the right person at the right time to have them with. (Or something like that, anyway). So that's a big part of it.

And far more now seem to be having 1 or 2 children max, whereas 3 seemed to be more common a generation ago; that's probably because of depressed wages/high house prices/general cost of living increases.

@Lele101

Totally understand - I'm in the same boat.

It hides so many issues - everyone in my generation with the same period problems aged 10 and up is now in the same situation, TTC and getting diagnosed left right and centre with PCOS / Endo.

It wasn't a judgement of people being on the pill early, it was a comment saying that long term contraception has covered all the issues up and now contributes to low birth rate.

More people chosing to not have kids, more people happy to stay single, choosing careers over parenthood. Not wanting to pass on genetic illnesses.

I think from 4 of my friends from school only 1 has kids

UK may be at the extreme end but this trend is happening across the developed world. It's happening in countries with cheap childcare lots of government support for families. Several countries have tried offering specific incentives to have children, and it's made very little difference.

Women are having their children later, so more likely to have one or two rather than 3 or 4 if they had started earlier

most families need two incomes, and the cost of childcare

@mitogoshigg I agree that there probably is a lifestyle element for some.

But - that makes sense to me. And comes back to cost.

I think people are more likely to prioritise a better quality of life for less people, particularly given the cost of more spacious housing, the likelihood of having to support into adulthood etc.

Yes. I love my daughter fiercely but I worry that as a child of wealthy parents, even though I have a master’s degree and a good career, financially I’m not well off. Even in one generation I’ve slipped backwards, how will it be for her? How will global warming impact her life. I worry so much about the world I’ve bought her into.

I think that time is underrated as a factor.

All the labour saving devices we have these days don't make up for the commuting, the lack of time to see family, to see friends... Add in children and clubs, homework etc

If people could earn a good wage from 4 days or a tolerable one from 3 days, they'd be more likely to have more kids IMO.

@MidnightPatrol

The difference is i accepted children meant giving up my pre child lifestyle. They have no intention of doing so. It's not a housing issue for them (different reasons but it's not money basically). Have friends in Spain, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Germany - all choosing one or none, choice not fertility related

Expense, lack of affordable housing

20 years ago I had my first child and within 12 months I had a 3 bedroom housing association home, which I'm still in. I went onto have 3 more children because I was able to stay home with them whilst my husband worked. We easily survived on one income, with affordable rent.

There's no way on earth if I was 20 years old now I would be able to get afford housing or be able to stay at home and there would be no HA properties available.

I would probably have 1 child.

Childcare costs will be a major driver.
Unless we had moved overseas there’s no way we could have coped.

The UK has high house prices, high childcare costs and relatively low wages. That combination is awful massive deterrent to have children.

THIS!!!
And just out of curiosity what country are you from?

I think we need to move away from the idea that if you have children you need to expect to be skint and give up any luxuries.

That’s part of the problem IMO - the level of sacrifice is too great.

People would prefer to maintain a decent standard of living and have few or no kids.

Governments don't care. They'll just keep importing a million people a year.

Cost is a factor of course but I think the main reason is the fact that many people see themselves as young well into their 30s
DS is 30. None of his men or women friends have children. Most haven't even started to look for a 'proper' partner. They are nearly all still going on dates, hook ups or relationships that last a few months.
Not many of them will be ready any time soon. Lots will leave it too late.