The baby bust: how Britain’s falling birthrate is creating alarm in the economy

Babies in a hospital nursery. In 2022 the fertility rate across England and Wales fell to 1.49 children per woman. Photograph: Randy Duchaine/Alamy

Having children has become an unaffordable luxury for many of her generation, says Vanessa, a 35-year-old project manager living in Brighton.

“My friends who managed to start a family, without exception, all received large sums of money from their parents to get on the property ladder. For those of us not fortunate enough, we are trapped in the rental market, largely with insecure, poorly paid employment.”