Demographic Trends in UK | Birth and Fertility Rates

What are birth rates and fertility rates?

• Birth rates are the number of live births that occur each year per 1,000 of the population

• The fertility rate is the average number of children a woman will have during her lifetime

• Infant mortality rate is the number of children who die in the first year of their lives per 1,000 births

How many live births have there been in England and Wales in 2018?

657,076

How big of a decrease in live births have there been since 2017?

3.2%

When was the most recent peak in live births?

2012

How much has the total fertility rate decreased in 2018?

1.76 to 1.70 children per woman

What was the infant mortality rate in the UK in 2018?

It was less than 4 per 1000

When has the UK birth rate declined from?

20.5 per 1000 in 1947 to 11.1 in 2018

How has the fertility rate fallen significantly over time?

9.4 to 3.9 per thousand from 1985 to 2018

What is the lowest ever recorded stillbirths?

2018 at 4.1 per 1000 live births

What are the explaining trends of birth and fertility rates?

• The economic position of women

• Cost of children

• Contraception

• Reduction in infant mortality

What is the economic position of women?

• Research shows a negative correlation between female employment and birth and fertility rates- as employment of women increases, birth and fertility rates fall

• This can be evidenced by increases in female employment throughout the later part of the 20th century and a reduction in birth and fertility rates

• Women are delaying having children until later in life and this reduces the number of children they choose to have

What is the cost of children?

• Estimated that the cost of raising a child in the 21st century varies from £150,000 to £185,000

• In previous generations, children were seen as a form of economic insurance for adults in their later years- however, increased affluence of the elderly in comparison to the young, this is no longer the case

• Buchanan and Rotkirch (2013) found the cost was a factor for women surveyed in deciding on having children

What is contraception?

• Availability and effectiveness of contraception in recent years have enabled women to have greater control over their reproductive rights

• The legalisation of abortion in 1969 has also helped to control the number of unwanted pregnancies

• Greater awareness of sexually transmitted infections has led to greater usage of contraception in relationships from the late 20th century onwards

What is the reduction in infant mortality?

• Advances in neonatal medicine have dramatically reduced the number of children dying in the first year of their lives

• Women are having fewer children as they are more certain that their children will live into adulthood

• These advances also make it more likely that women will delay having children as previously it was thought there was more danger in having children over the age of 30

What are the impacts of reduced birth and fertility rates?

• Fewer children in society, which in turn increases the average age of the UK population

• With fewer children to replace the adult workforce, this will lead to an imbalance in the dependency ratio in years to come

• UK’s declining birth rate, coupled with a declining death rate has led to an ageing population