By Katie Silver, Health reporter, BBC News
24 November 2017
Women in England and Wales are having 1.9 children on average, fewer than their mothers who had 2.2 offspring, according to the Office for National Statistics. That's a small decrease but the lowest level on record and continues the downward trend of the past few years. The decline is in part due to a growing number of women not having children, with one-fifth now childless. There has also been a fall in the number of teenage pregnancies. About 6% of women have a baby before their 20th birthday, again continuing a long-term downward trend. But "it's not just childlessness," said Emily Knipe of the Office for National Statistics. More and more women are having fewer babies. The data showed about one in 10 mothers today having four or more children, compared with one in eight of their mothers' generation.
Women are also having babies later. By their 30th birthdays, women today are likely to have had one child. Their mothers were likely to have had 1.8. The ONS suggested this is because more women are going into higher education and are also delaying finding a partner. Ms Knipe said: "It's not just a biological factor of people leaving it too late. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests people are choosing not to have children." The data showed that the number of women having children in their teenage years, after peaking in the mid-20th Century, now matches figures for women born in the 1920s. Imogen Stephens of Marie Stopes UK said it "shows that young people are taking better control of their fertility. It is a big financial commitment to start a family and it is completely understandable that more women are choosing to complete their education, develop their careers and get on the housing ladder before having children. What is vital is that we support women's choices to have children at the age that is right for them."
[My Mum was one of six and I was one of three so, in a nutshell, you can see the trend right there. My sister with six kids kind of blows that trend out of the water but she’s unusual in that respect (and in so many other ways!) that we can’t really draw any conclusions from her. Most of the women I know who have kids only have two. But I know quite a few women who have stuck at one or have even, for a whole host of reasons, chosen to remain childless. With already far too many mouths to feed on this resource strapped planet I certainly applaud the idea of reducing the birth-rate, and it looks like it’s moving in the right direction at least here and, I suspect, all across so-called first world countries. Long may it continue.]
5 comments:
It seems to be a worldwide pattern. As prosperity increases and women do better in terms of finances and education, they have less children. I agree that this is a good trend and it must continue if we have any hope of not completely destroying the planet.
Prosperty does seem to be some kind on contraceptive. Unfortunately we can't make everyone on the planet 1st World rich.... But it is good that the growth rate is slowing down somewhere.
My grandmother was one of five. My mother was one of three. I was one of seven. I have two children. My mother was an anomaly having seven kids.
there may be a subliminal urge toward population reduction, somehow incorporated in the genetic structure... just speculating...
@ V V: When my sister had 3 boys in a row and then a girl we thought she'd stop. No... two more! (Girl, Boy).
@ Mudpuddle: It appears that in poorer countries/ages children are a way on ensuring against the future - plus attempting to overwhelm infant mortality. With increased wealth comes increased security - and reduced need to have children helping later - and a lower infant mortality reduces the need to 'over produce'.
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