Britain’s baby bust laid bare: Births plummet to 20-YEAR low
by Emily Craig, Daily Mail:
Births in England and Wales fell to their lowest level in two decades in 2022, official figures show.
Around 600,000 live births were logged between the two nations last year — 3.1 per cent fewer than 2021.
The figure has been in freefall for a decade, apart from a blip during 2021 put down to a mini baby ‘bounce’ by couples who put their family plans on hold at the start of the Covid pandemic.
Experts believe the trend is partly down to women focusing on their education and careers and couples waiting to have children until later in life.
The UK’s fragile economy and cost-of-living crisis is also putting people off having children, some believe, evidenced by abortion rates simultaneously spiking.
Experts claim people’s financial situations are increasingly playing into decisions around whether to start a family.
Others cite the environment, with people fearing that they will worsen their carbon footprint by having a child or that their child will have a bleak future due to climate change.
Other reasons floated for plummeting birth rates include better access to contraception and lower child mortality.
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