Half of all British adult women have delayed having a child or decided against it altogether, according to new Ipsos research – the latest indication that we are facing a full-blown population crisis.
Last year’s total fertility rate of 1.41 was the lowest since comparable data was first collected in 1938, and it is forecast to fall to 1.3 by 2100. The replacement rate at which women give birth to enough babies to sustain population levels is 2.1. With an ageing population to support, this is a growing economic problem which will have a significant impact on healthcare and public services in the decades to come.
