{"id":1801,"date":"2024-10-28T17:22:47","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T17:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1801"},"modified":"2024-10-28T17:22:47","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T17:22:47","slug":"financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate\/","title":{"rendered":"Financial and Economic Reasons for the Drop in Fertility Rate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fertility rate in England and Wales is at an all-time low\u2026 let\u2019s have a look at some of the economic and financial reasons for this.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fertility Figures<\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ons.gov.uk\/peoplepopulationandcommunity\/birthsdeathsandmarriages\/livebirths\/bulletins\/birthsummarytablesenglandandwales\/2023#:~:text=Fertility%20rates%20in%20England%20and%20Wales%20have%20been%20in%20overall,the%20lowest%20rate%20on%20record.\">Office for National Statistics<\/a>, the number of live births across England and Wales has dropped below 600,000 for the first time in 21 years.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0Since 2010, fertility rates in England and Wales have been in overall decline. Between 2022 and 2023, the total fertility rate decreased from an average of 1.49 children per woman over their lifetime to 1.44, the lowest value since records began in 1938.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies \u2013 Findings<\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some people do not want to have children, some may be uncertain, and some may want children but have reasons for putting them off. Findings from the <a href=\"https:\/\/cls.ucl.ac.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Fertility-intentions-and-postponed-parenthood_Initial-findings-from-Next-Steps-at-Age-32.pdf\">UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies<\/a> may help us better understand the fertility trends we are seeing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018Not feeling ready\u2019 to have a child was the most common reason among those who definitely wanted to have children, or more children, but were not currently trying (47% of respondents)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Financial reasons were the second most common reason for not trying to have children, or more children, now among respondents who reported they definitely wanted more children but weren\u2019t currently trying (28%)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Work or study was the third most common reason for not currently trying to have a child<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Respondents who reported they did not feel ready often also reported financial and work reasons, showing just how much financial and economic considerations are impacting the respondent\u2019s decisions to not have children<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Concerns surrounding finances and work or study were more likely to put women off having children (or more children) than men (45% vs 40%)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Opportunity Cost of Children<\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like with most decisions, we all face an opportunity cost from having children, as this is just the consequence of choosing one alternative over another, i.e, if we have children, what are the consequences of this choice?<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Higher earners may be considered to face a higher opportunity cost from having children, because if they leave the workforce or reduce their hours after having children, they are losing more in wages. However, despite potentially losing more in wages, those on higher incomes may also be able to more readily afford childcare (assuming they have a higher disposable income after their expenditures than those earning less). Every person, whether their income is low or high, has financial and economic considerations when choosing whether to have children.<\/p>\n<p>Having children often comes with a decrease in income (from reducing hours or leaving the workforce), and an increase in expenditures (kids are expensive).<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many people want to raise their children in an environment of financial stability. Therefore, when we consider the continued cost-of-living crisis combined with how high house prices are, it is perhaps easy to understand why many are choosing to have children later, or not at all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The fertility rate in England and Wales is at an all-time low\u2026 let\u2019s have a look at some of the economic and financial reasons for this. Fertility Figures According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of live births across England and Wales has dropped below 600,000 for the first time in 21 years. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[1,1096],"tags":[358,53,56,1266,1265,1260,1257,1258,1259,1212,1267,401,1263,1262,1261,399,398,1264],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Financial and Economic Reasons for the Drop in Fertility Rate - Red Star Education Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The fertility rate in England and Wales is at an all-time low\u2026 let\u2019s have a look at some of the economic and financial reasons for this\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Financial and Economic Reasons for the Drop in Fertility Rate - Red Star Education Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The fertility rate in England and Wales is at an all-time low\u2026 let\u2019s have a look at some of the economic and financial reasons for this\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Red Star Education Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-28T17:22:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-cottonbro-5853818-scaled-e1730135912859.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2105\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1030\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lydia Beck\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lydia Beck\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Red Star Education Blog\",\"description\":\"Just another WordPress site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-cottonbro-5853818-scaled-e1730135912859.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-cottonbro-5853818-scaled-e1730135912859.jpg\",\"width\":2105,\"height\":1030},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate\/\",\"name\":\"Financial and Economic Reasons for the Drop in Fertility Rate - Red Star Education Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-28T17:22:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-28T17:22:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9bd136025162710bfe4a1e08e244c9f3\"},\"description\":\"The fertility rate in England and Wales is at an all-time low\u2026 let\u2019s have a look at some of the economic and financial reasons for this\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Financial and Economic Reasons for the Drop in Fertility Rate\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9bd136025162710bfe4a1e08e244c9f3\",\"name\":\"Lydia Beck\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b3199b9ade4fd75b8728537c648cb298?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b3199b9ade4fd75b8728537c648cb298?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lydia Beck\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/author\/lydiaredstaredu\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Financial and Economic Reasons for the Drop in Fertility Rate - Red Star Education Blog","description":"The fertility rate in England and Wales is at an all-time low\u2026 let\u2019s have a look at some of the economic and financial reasons for this","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Financial and Economic Reasons for the Drop in Fertility Rate - Red Star Education Blog","og_description":"The fertility rate in England and Wales is at an all-time low\u2026 let\u2019s have a look at some of the economic and financial reasons for this","og_url":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate\/","og_site_name":"Red Star Education Blog","article_published_time":"2024-10-28T17:22:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2105,"height":1030,"url":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-cottonbro-5853818-scaled-e1730135912859.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lydia Beck","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lydia Beck","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/","name":"Red Star Education Blog","description":"Just another WordPress site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-cottonbro-5853818-scaled-e1730135912859.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-cottonbro-5853818-scaled-e1730135912859.jpg","width":2105,"height":1030},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate\/","name":"Financial and Economic Reasons for the Drop in Fertility Rate - Red Star Education Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2024-10-28T17:22:47+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-28T17:22:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9bd136025162710bfe4a1e08e244c9f3"},"description":"The fertility rate in England and Wales is at an all-time low\u2026 let\u2019s have a look at some of the economic and financial reasons for this","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/financial-and-economic-reasons-for-the-drop-in-fertility-rate\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog Home","item":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Financial and Economic Reasons for the Drop in Fertility Rate"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9bd136025162710bfe4a1e08e244c9f3","name":"Lydia Beck","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b3199b9ade4fd75b8728537c648cb298?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b3199b9ade4fd75b8728537c648cb298?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lydia Beck"},"url":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/author\/lydiaredstaredu\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1801"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1801"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1812,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1801\/revisions\/1812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}