Women in England and Wales were to have an average of 1.44 children between 2022 and 2023, the lowest rate on record.

Only 591,072 babies were born in 2023, fewer than in any year since 1977 and a decline of more than 14,000 from the previous year. National Statistics Office data Showed.

The average age of new parents has increased to 33.8 for fathers and 30.9 for mothers.

research suggests Millennials born before the mid-1990s are not having children due to financial pressures, not feeling ready or not finding the right partner.

While the number of births fell to a record low last year, the number of women of childbearing age reached an all-time high of 12 million.

This means that the total fertility rate in 2023 will be the lowest recorded since 1938.

Greg Seely, head of population health surveillance at the ONS, said the overall fertility rate had been falling since 2010 but was particularly notable in certain age groups.

“The decline in fertility rates has been most dramatic in the 20-24 and 25-29 age groups,” he said.

For countries to maintain their populations, the fertility rate must be around 2.1 children per woman.

But despite fertility rates falling in England and Wales since the 1970s, the population has continued to grow, largely due to immigration.

Fertility rates are falling in most countries around the world.

In Scotland, the total fertility rate also fell to 1.3, and the number of babies born also fell to an all-time low of 45,935. According to the National Records of Scotland,

In 2023 there were 27,374 live births in Wales and 563,561 in England.

a recent study University College London (UCL) found that only one in four 32-year-olds in England who want children are actively trying to have them.

When researchers looked into the reasons for this, financial and work pressures were often cited for those born in 1989–90.

UCL’s Dr Alina Pelikh said falling fertility rates highlighted the challenges facing the younger generation.

“While parents will naturally have many reasons for making decisions on the timing and spacing of their children, it is likely that current living pressures, along with rising housing and child care costs, will also shape that environment in which this group is making fertility decisions.”

Experts say that the government can introduce some policies to help.

Professor Bassel H. Al Wattar of Anglia Ruskin University said, “Governments can implement immediate interventions… such as offering longer paid parental leave, more funding for child care for working parents and “More funding for fertility treatment in the NHS.”

But policies encouraging people to have more children, such as loans or tax incentives, “are not only expensive but they have limited evidence that they will increase overall fertility rates,” said Melinda, a professor of demography and population health at the university. Mills said. Oxford.

The most popular date of birth in 2023 was September 28, which has been among the top 10 most popular birth dates for several years.

Boxing Day is the day on which children are least likely to be born in England and Wales. It has held this title for 11 consecutive years.