Why are birth rates falling, and why property prices might be playing a part?
According to The New Statesman UK edition article written on 19/2/2022: For the first time, half of the women in England and Wales remained childless by their 30th birthday. Women from 45 years onwards are also having lesser children due to fertility
Why?
Having children requires money and stability, right? For more than a decade now the entire world seems to be getting financially harder. Since 2007 this country has rolled from crisis to crisis if you think about it…recession, Brexit, the pandemic…and now a life-changing recession is hitting again). Anyone under 35 in reality has not known a time when we have not been in a financial crisis.
Wages have barely risen. Students experience a huge pile of debt whilst graduating, and a housing market where the only security you have is if you can afford to buy, leaving many young adults dependant on inheritance, and to move out of areas where they have the best chance of a high paid job to be able to afford a home. Then if you do want a family you need to think about childcare costs which in truth is like taking out a second mortgage…So, it’s no mystery as to why many are not repopulating the earth!
The reality is people might not want to have children because they are living in shared accommodation, cannot afford a house to accommodate children, or simply cannot see how they can afford their current living costs if they have children. Many people just cannot afford to give up work.
So how does this affect property developments? People simply cannot afford to upgrade to a sized property that is suitable for a family. New housing developments with 4-5 bedrooms are just not affordable to this generation as they were when my family who is now in their late 60s and 70s were young.
What’s the answer?
Government steps to improve the security of rentals, help with childcare costs, and a reform that looks at building affordable family homes would perhaps help many to feel more secure and be able to have a certain standard of living.
Article wrote: April 14th, 2022
Please be aware the details of this article are appropriate from the time it was written, therefore any information given after this date may have changed.
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