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

Birth rates, fertility rates and infant mortality in the UK:

There were 657,076 live births in England and Wales in 2018, a decrease of 3.2% since 2017 and a 9.9% decrease since the most recent peak in 2012
The total fertility rate (TFR) decreased from 1.76 to 1.70 children per woman in 2018; this is lower than all previous years except 1977 and 1999 to 2002
The infant mortality rate in the UK was less than 4 per 1000 in 2018, although there are regional variations (e.g. 4.2 in Northern Ireland)
UK birth rate has declined from 20.5 per 1000 in 1947 to 11.1 in 2018
The fertility rate has fallen significantly over time from 9.4 to 3.9 per thousand from 1985 to 2018
Lowest ever recorded stillbirths in 2018 at 4.1 per 1000 live births

Explaining the trends:

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

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

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

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

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

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