Yesterday, CPC-CG member Professor Ann Berrington spoke with the Financial Times about the latest #OfficeForNationalStatistics data on #births in #England and #Wales. The data shows that, in 2025, the number of #babies born fell to the lowest level in almost half a century and continues the long-term trend of #fallingbirths going back over the past decade.

https://www.ft.com/content/78b75687-62d3-4847-a950-7e0a79256390?syn-25a6b1a6=1

#demography #fertility #childbearing #havingchildren #families #birthrates #decliningbirthrates #fallingbirthrates

📉 Interviewed about the effects of falling #birthrates on local businesses, CPC member Professor Brienna Perelli-Harris said attitudes towards #havingchildren are shifting among #youngergenerations:

"About 15% of the #GenZ cohort say that they definitely don't want to have #children, and that's quite different from previous generations and previous studies that have been done," she said. "Another 30% say that they probably don't or are uncertain about having #kids." https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn4pzweqdgpo

“Arguably, childbearing has become more of a privilege," says CPC-CG member Ann Berrington in a new article in The Telegraph, with CG member Charlie McCurdy agreeing that for many young people, even if they want children, "they feel like they can't afford them."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/05/06/having-a-big-family-is-now-the-preserve-of-the-rich/

#demography #fertility #childless #childfree #family #kids #fertilitydecline #youngpeople #millennials #costofliving #havingchildren

🔖 NEW findings from the ESRC-funded FertilityTrends project

The first study to examine how having children in Britain has changed over 3 decades, by child order (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.), and to compare these changes between England & Wales and Scotland

➡️Article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2025.2491354

#fertility #birthorder #demography #population #populationstudies #socialscience #family #havingchildren #birthrates

Current before-bed read when I don't just collapse into sleep, Christine Overall's "Why Have Children?" (#MITP 2012). I don't always agree with Overall in her other work, but I'm interested to see how she works through the questions here--the question of bringing new creatures into the world really weighs on me some days, looking forward to #feminist discussion of the putative reasons in favour.

#natalism #antinatalism #HavingChildren #philosophy