“It’s not a nice world to bring children into”: Births drop to half-century low

“It’s simply not a pleasant world to bring people into. Why would I consciously choose to do that when I have the option not to?” asks Stacey Waring, a 40-year-old nurse from Nottingham. Global instability has led her to reconsider the idea of starting a family, a sentiment shared by a growing demographic choosing to have either no children or fewer than they might have previously planned. This shift is contributing to a national and international decline in birth rates.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), births in England and Wales dropped for the fourth consecutive year in 2025, hitting their lowest point in nearly 50 years. Waring feels that raising children in the UK today is less attractive than it was for her parents’ or grandparents’ generations. “If I look back at my own childhood, I was among the last to grow up playing outside without a mobile phone, and that is very different now,” she notes.

However, Waring expresses gratitude for the increased autonomy modern parents have regarding family planning. “If I had chosen to have children, I would have had to cut back my working hours,” she explains. “I am a passionate traveler and go away as often as I can in my camper van, something I wouldn’t be able to do if I had kids.”

The UK’s birth rate has been in steady decline since 2010. In 2025, there were 585,000 live births, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous year and the lowest total recorded since 1977. The fertility rate, measured as the estimated number of children born per woman, fell to just under 1.4 in England and Wales in 2025, down from 1.9 in 2010. Additionally, women are delaying motherhood, with the average age for a first child rising to 29.6 years. This is approximately two years later than in 2010, marking the start of the most recent fertility decline. Meanwhile, births involving at least one parent born outside the UK rose to 40%, up from 30% over the same period.

‘It’s heartbreaking’

For Georgina Tuffour, 35, the desire for a larger family is tempered by financial pressures. The trainee nurse, whose husband works as an Uber driver, already has three children aged 10, eight, and six, but fears that expanding their family further is unfeasible. “My daughter wants to sign up for everything at school, and my son loves playing the drums, which costs £50 a month,” she says. “I’ve had to tell them I can’t afford to enroll them in all of these activities, and it breaks my heart. Imagine the feeling of having another child?”

Tuffour, who spoke to BBC Your Voice, acknowledged that the government has implemented some supportive measures for young families but called for more policies to alleviate childcare costs.

Dr. Paula Sheppard, an anthropologist at the University of Oxford, suggests that the rising cost of living is a significant factor in people waiting until they have “a lot more proverbial ducks in a row” before having more children. “They are waiting for a better job, a higher salary, a nicer house, or a better neighborhood, and it takes longer to achieve these goals in the current economic climate,” she explains. “People have always wanted the best for their kids, but the cost of raising them is increasing—food is more expensive, clothes are more expensive—so the economy definitely plays a role.”

Dr. Sheppard emphasizes that falling birth rates are not limited to the UK or Europe but represent a broader global phenomenon. “Even in the Nordic countries, which have family-friendly social policies, birth rates are not increasing,” she notes. She attributes this trend to a “cultural shift,” where families prefer to “invest in fewer children rather than having many children with fewer resources.”

Furthermore, Dr. Sheppard argues that declining birth rates can create a self-perpetuating psychological effect. “If you grow up in a society where you don’t see many babies, it becomes harder for you to have babies yourself,” she argues.

Additional reporting by Joe McFadden and Amy Whittlestone

Source: BBC News Generated at: 2026-05-27 16:45:27 UTC