According to a survey, nearly half of UK adults between the ages of 18 and 50 do not intend to have children, and the birth rate is expected to drastically decline as a result.
Ipsos’ survey found that 46% of people indicated they had opted against having children or had no plans to.
More over half claimed that this was done for financial gain. The “personal reasons” given by two-thirds of respondents included being too young or old or feeling intimidated by the idea.
In Britain, there are now 1.61 children for every woman as opposed to 1.94 a decade earlier. According to experts, this will result in a population high of 71 million in the 2040s, followed by a decline to 57 million by 2100, the last time this happened was in 1989.
The dropping rate will result in an aging population in Britain, raising concerns about increased strain on the healthcare and social services systems as well as a potential decline in economic growth.
Environmentalists, meanwhile, contend that as the population declines, carbon emissions will be reduced and quality of life will increase, and that robots and computers will replace any employment vacancies.
According to 62% of respondents surveyed, lowering or eliminating the expense of daycare would encourage more people to have kids.
According to a report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, childcare costs more in Britain than virtually everywhere else in the wealthy world, equaling more than half the wages of the typical parent. It is well below 20% in the majority of European nations.
Not alone in the UK are birth rates declining. The number of children per woman is declining in most of the developed world, with South Korea having the lowest rate at 0.81.
However, France has a rate of roughly 1.8 children per woman, which is substantially higher than the majority of comparable wealthy nations. According to experts, this is because the nation provides affordable childcare and more parental leave.
As in much of the rest of the globe, birth rates have been declining in the UK for a number of years, according to Dr. Aveek Bhattacharya, research director at the Social Market Foundation think tank. Better economic prospects, more robust reproductive rights, and lessened social pressure are likely contributing factors that, in part, represent more options and freedom.
“At the same time, people typically indicate they would like to have more children than they actually have, which shows considerable financial constraints, as well as employment and housing situations that may not be conducive to establishing a family.”
Another Ipsos survey, meantime, revealed that parents’ perspectives on who manages day-to-day childcare tasks differ.
A woman will tell you that she supervises the children’s lives, conducts the school run, fills out administrative documents, and amuses the kids. Ask a male, and he’ll tell you that he and his spouse split these responsibilities evenly.