Brighton and Hove’s fertility rate has dropped below 1 for the first time, leaving it with the third lowest fertility rate in England and Wales.
Newly published figures show the total fertility rate in the city last year was just 0.98 – with only the City of London (0.55) and Cambridge (0.91).
This is a calculation of the average number of live children that a group of women would bear, based on age-specific fertility rates.
However, although the number has fallen, Brighton’s rate compared to other places has remained much the same over the last 20 years, rarely falling out of the top ten – and having fallen from second lowest last year.
Meanwhile, the falling number of children in the city is seriously affecting school finances, with primary schools being forced to slash intakes and secondaries warned they will also need to follow suit in the coming years.
The total fertility rate across England and Wales dropped to a new record low last year, while the number of live births fell to the lowest in nearly five decades.
While fertility rates across the two nations have been in overall decline since 2010, the rate in 2023 fell to 1.44 children per woman, which the Office for National Statistics said is the lowest value since records began in 1938.
The rate was down from an average of 1.49 children per woman over their lifetime in 2022, and has decreased most among women aged 20 to 24 – down 79% from 181.6 live births per 1,000 women of this age group in 1964 to 38.6 in 2023.
The average age of mothers remained stable at 30.9, while fathers’ average age increased slightly from 33.7 in 2022 to 33.8 last year.
In 2023, the number of live births (591,072) in England and Wales fell to the lowest since 1977 when there were 569,259.
Greg Ceely, head of population health monitoring at the ONS, said: “The annual number of births in England and Wales continues its recent decline, with 2023 recording the lowest number of live births seen since 1977.
“Total fertility rates declined in 2023, a trend we have seen since 2010. Looking in more detail at fertility rates among women of different ages, the decline in fertility rates has been the most dramatic in the 20-24 and 25-29 age groups.”
Who cares. Humans are like a plaque on the earth.
Who can afford to have kids?
People in benefits.
Well this is interesting, but is it based on the ability of women to have children, or is it based on decisions made by them and their partners?
Has the need for IVF treatment risen?
Or are single women and couples choosing to have less children, or deciding to wait longer before they start a family?
Obviously, while we are in the middle of a recession – the one nobody is talking about – then spiralling housing costs and other inflationary living costs mean that having children is an even more expensive prospect, particularly in our area. It also feels like we are living in unpredictable times, and that affects how comfortable and stable we feel in our own homes.
It would be interesting to hear if there’s a study linking fertility rates to disposable income.
Unfortunately young families are telling us that they are moving out of Brighton, due to the high cost of housing & a lack of houses (particularly in the city centre), with certain councillors just nodding through blocks of flats to be built. Whilst families can of course live in flats – the choice of a small flat in Brighton & Hove or a starter home elsewhere in Sussex – it’s generally a no brainer!