According to a KPMG analysis, birth rates in Australia are dropping significantly due to high living costs and unaffordable housing. The national birthrate has sharply declined since a post-lockdown baby boom in 2021 when there were 315,200 births. In 2023 the figure was just 289,100, marking the lowest annual number since 2006. Urban economist Terry Read more
Changes to global fertility rates could be on the way. Some countries are likely to experience a spike in births, while others are likely to see fewer births. Few women want to have a child in a time of uncertainty. In the rich world many are delaying starting a family or adding to it. But Read more
In New Zealand the age of having children has shifted later and later, with many women prioritising a career in early adult life over a family. And developments in fertility medicine have helped this trend. In New Zealand, women give birth to the most children between 30 and 34, but this was not always the Read more
Almost a quarter of a million more couples are projected to be living without children by 2038, Statistics New Zealand says. Couple-without-children families account for more than half the projected growth of all families, increasing from 513,000 in 2013 to 757,000 in 2038 (up 244,000). While this figure includes “empty nesters”, there is also an Read more
The Vatican has warned the United Nations about falling fertility rates around the world, saying that they “should be a great cause for alarm”. Citing a report from the UN’s secretary general, the Vatican mission to the UN stated that “no fewer than 80 countries now register a fertility rate below replacement level”. That trend Read more
We all know what’s coming. Everywhere in the developed world, populations are greying. The media are full of stories about the surge in the numbers of the elderly within the next 20 years, while governments have been pushing the age of retirement entitlements upward. Most of the spotlight has been on the new greybeards themselves—the Read more