Let’s Rethink Population Growth – Someone else agrees

Yet another of my little posts has been confirmed by a reputable organisation. This time it was my look and thoughts on Population Growth and the true cause being financial insecurity and housing costs.

The resolution foundation today released a report which agreed with my observations –

Key findings

• There is a large and growing fertility gap. Despite falling birth rates, preferences for family size have remained stable. The gap between the average number of children women say they ideally want and how many they are having has grown over the 2010s.
• Fewer children will further reshape the age profile of the population. An older population will affect the future supply of carers and workers and is likely to drive rising demand for health and social care services, increasing fiscal pressures. And while fewer children should reduce overall spending on schools, falling pupil numbers may create short-term financial challenges for individual schools.
• Being childless at 30 has become the new normal. The proportion of women in England and Wales who haven’t had a child by age 30 has surged from 48 per cent for those born in the late 1980s to 58 per cent for those born in the early 1990s. It is too soon to know whether this represents delay or a lasting decline – previous generations of women who postponed parenthood eventually caught up, but not all did.
• Non-graduate women in their late 20s have seen the sharpest rise in childlessness. The proportion of non-graduate women aged 25-29 without a biological child has risen dramatically, from one-in-three (33 per cent) in 2011 to more than half (54 per cent) in 2023 – a rise far steeper than for any other group. This has happened alongside falling partnership rates and a major shift away from homeownership towards costly private renting and living with parents, both of which make starting a family harder.
• Financial constraints appear to be shaping intentions, not just behaviour. Among 32-year-olds who are childless in England, roughly twice the proportion of those in the lowest income quarter say they intend to remain permanently childless compared to those in the highest income quarter. Around three-in-ten women and a quarter of men also cite finances as a reason for not yet having children.
• Whether recent trends ultimately prove to be a delay or a permanent decline remains uncertain, but the Government should carefully consider the consequences. That means making tax, spending and legislative choices that adapt fairly to the needs of a changing population.

https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/bye-bye-baby/

I recommend you read their full investigation, and if you’re interested in my posts check out Let’s Rethink Population Growth.