High housing costs and the expense of bringing up children have been blamed for a collapse in the number of babies born across Australia as the nation’s fertility rate tumbled to its lowest level since the early days of European settlement.
Nationally, there were 286,998 births through 2023 – the fewest since 2006. It was a 4.6 per cent drop, or almost 14,000 fewer births, than the number of births in 2022.
The fall meant the nation’s fertility rate fell to its lowest level on record of just 1.5. The fertility rate – the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime – has now dropped a quarter since its most recent peak recorded in 2008.
The epicentre of the collapse is Sydney where the number of births has slumped by 14 per cent since 2018, coinciding with a 50 per cent increase in the city’s median house price. It’s little better in Melbourne where the number of births has fallen by 10 per cent since 2018 despite the city being home to an extra 300,000 residents.
The inner-city areas of every capital, including Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Hobart, now have fertility rates below 1 with neighbouring suburbs also showing steep declines.
The only areas with fertility rates above 2.1 – considered to be the population replacement level – are all in rural and regional country areas. Not only are total births and the fertility rate falling, the median age of parents continues to climb to record highs. The oldest mothers in the country are in Canberra and Victoria at 31.9 years while the median age for fathers has climbed to 34.3 years in the ACT.
Fertility rates by age are falling, with large drops for women in their 20s. The only age cohort with an increase in fertility is women aged between 45 and 49 who make up a tiny share of total births. Australian National University demographer Liz Allen said generations of inaction by politicians and institutions had delivered the nation’s young people a bleak future. “We have young people who say they want to have a child, or a subsequent child, but the barriers in front of them are insurmountable. The rug is being pulled from beneath their futures,” said the demographer. “Housing affordability, economic insecurity, gender inequality and climate boiling – that’s a recipe for the most effective contraceptive ever.” Total births peaked in 2018 when 315,147 children were born across the country. Since then, total births have dropped by almost 9 per cent.
Individual_Plan_5816 on
Forget about your dream of being a parent. The important thing is that Australian landlords are happy. In Australian culture it’s considered extremely rude to be interested in things other than your real estate portfolio. A tasteful kitchen reno is considered the highest form of creative expression.
zeracine on
In my dad’s day he could have six kids and a house and holidays on one salary. Now my brothers it takes three of them to afford one house.
falloutman1990 on
What a shocker people who can’t find a place to live don’t to want to give birth to kids and raise them in homelessness.
Federal politicians over the last 25 years should be ashamed of themselves.
Paulbr38a on
Reducing birth rates have been trending long before current housing problems although they are not helping. All across the developed world there is less than the required 2.1 rate required to maintain population and a greater need for immigration. Lots of recent podcasts and deep dives online exploring this issue.
ghoonrhed on
What a stupid mistake of a headline by Fairfax.
The BIRTHS were the lowest since 2006, the rate because we’ve had more people is the lowest in history which was the case in 2017 and kept declining. If the rate was 2006 which was actually still below replacements rate but it wouldn’t be a problem cos it would’ve meant a rise from 2022.
Although I am curious, do people in their 20s nowadays actually want kids cos judging from our generation, money is a factor but it isn’t the main factor. Even if you gave them families free money to raise kids, a cheap house there’s always still that factor where the parents wanna now work on their careers, they want to build wealth not just a quick rich from a baby bonus, they wanna take advantage of their youth and have fun and travel, and I think a lot of our generation we wanna raise kids right not just pump them out like in the 50s so that means you have to be settled and sure of your life and have time to take care of them.
mullumbimbo89 on
If you can’t buy a house til you’re 35, it leaves you a pretty small window to have a baby. If you and your partner don’t have secure jobs that pay you enough to cover the mortgage and childcare, then you’re screwed.
8 Comments
High housing costs and the expense of bringing up children have been blamed for a collapse in the number of babies born across Australia as the nation’s fertility rate tumbled to its lowest level since the early days of European settlement.
Nationally, there were 286,998 births through 2023 – the fewest since 2006. It was a 4.6 per cent drop, or almost 14,000 fewer births, than the number of births in 2022.
The fall meant the nation’s fertility rate fell to its lowest level on record of just 1.5. The fertility rate – the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime – has now dropped a quarter since its most recent peak recorded in 2008.
The epicentre of the collapse is Sydney where the number of births has slumped by 14 per cent since 2018, coinciding with a 50 per cent increase in the city’s median house price. It’s little better in Melbourne where the number of births has fallen by 10 per cent since 2018 despite the city being home to an extra 300,000 residents.
The inner-city areas of every capital, including Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Hobart, now have fertility rates below 1 with neighbouring suburbs also showing steep declines.
The only areas with fertility rates above 2.1 – considered to be the population replacement level – are all in rural and regional country areas. Not only are total births and the fertility rate falling, the median age of parents continues to climb to record highs. The oldest mothers in the country are in Canberra and Victoria at 31.9 years while the median age for fathers has climbed to 34.3 years in the ACT.
Fertility rates by age are falling, with large drops for women in their 20s. The only age cohort with an increase in fertility is women aged between 45 and 49 who make up a tiny share of total births. Australian National University demographer Liz Allen said generations of inaction by politicians and institutions had delivered the nation’s young people a bleak future. “We have young people who say they want to have a child, or a subsequent child, but the barriers in front of them are insurmountable. The rug is being pulled from beneath their futures,” said the demographer. “Housing affordability, economic insecurity, gender inequality and climate boiling – that’s a recipe for the most effective contraceptive ever.” Total births peaked in 2018 when 315,147 children were born across the country. Since then, total births have dropped by almost 9 per cent.
Forget about your dream of being a parent. The important thing is that Australian landlords are happy. In Australian culture it’s considered extremely rude to be interested in things other than your real estate portfolio. A tasteful kitchen reno is considered the highest form of creative expression.
In my dad’s day he could have six kids and a house and holidays on one salary. Now my brothers it takes three of them to afford one house.
What a shocker people who can’t find a place to live don’t to want to give birth to kids and raise them in homelessness.
Federal politicians over the last 25 years should be ashamed of themselves.
Reducing birth rates have been trending long before current housing problems although they are not helping. All across the developed world there is less than the required 2.1 rate required to maintain population and a greater need for immigration. Lots of recent podcasts and deep dives online exploring this issue.
What a stupid mistake of a headline by Fairfax.
The BIRTHS were the lowest since 2006, the rate because we’ve had more people is the lowest in history which was the case in 2017 and kept declining. If the rate was 2006 which was actually still below replacements rate but it wouldn’t be a problem cos it would’ve meant a rise from 2022.
Although I am curious, do people in their 20s nowadays actually want kids cos judging from our generation, money is a factor but it isn’t the main factor. Even if you gave them families free money to raise kids, a cheap house there’s always still that factor where the parents wanna now work on their careers, they want to build wealth not just a quick rich from a baby bonus, they wanna take advantage of their youth and have fun and travel, and I think a lot of our generation we wanna raise kids right not just pump them out like in the 50s so that means you have to be settled and sure of your life and have time to take care of them.
If you can’t buy a house til you’re 35, it leaves you a pretty small window to have a baby. If you and your partner don’t have secure jobs that pay you enough to cover the mortgage and childcare, then you’re screwed.
Why no kids?
Broadly gesturing at everything…