Decline in the birth rate since 1900

What about the decline in the infant mortality rate (IMR)?

• Families choose to have fewer children because they’ve developed a stronger bond with their children who’re now more likely to survive into adulthood compared with previous generations.

• Due to improvements in both medical science and public health.

• Improvements mean there’s less need to replace children who’ve been lost to disease.

• E.g In 1901, the IMR was 154 per 1000 babies born compared to 4.62 per 1000 babies in 2012.

What about family diversity?

• As alternative lifestyle choices are now socially acceptable, some couples may choose to remain childless.

• Some couples may find it difficult to have children due to biological barriers.

What about changing expectations of women?

• Increase in educational achievement, employment opportunities and the availability of contraception mean women may choose to prioritise having a career rather than having a family.

• Women who do have children, they can now control how many children they have and when they have them.

• Resulting in an increase in women having children later in life.

What about the cost of raising children?

• Costs spiralled upwards in the 20th century and consequently parents may have chosen to have fewer children because they couldn’t afford to raise a large family.

• It’s estimated that the average cost of each child over the course of 21 years is £186,000, according to the insurance company Liverpool Victoria.

What about reasons for the recent rise in the birth rate?

• Increase in net migration:

  • Majority of migrants are of childbearing age, the recent rise in migration has led to a rise in the birth rate in the UK.

  • Trend can also be illustrated by studying the average family size of Asian, African, Polish and Irish-Catholic families in the UK, which tend to be much larger than the average white British family.

• Economic recovery:

  • After global recession of 2007, the economy began to stabilise post-2010, which coincided with an increase in the birth rate.

  • Official statistics suggest that in 2007, 690,013 babies were born in the UK; in 2012 this increased to 729,674.

  • Could’ve occurred because people may have delayed having a child until they felt more secure in their employment.