UK Wedding News
06/12/2013
Almost one in five women who reached the end of their child-bearing years in 2012 had no children – this compares to just over one in 10 of their mothers.
The figures, released by the Office for National Statistics, showed that the most common family in Britain has two children, but for a generation of women born in the late 1960s, the next most common outcome is that they will have no children.
Elsewhere, there was an increase in the number of single-child families, with 15% of mothers born in 1967 having just one child – the highest rate since the generation born in 1935.
Commenting on the trends, the ONS said there are a number of factors, such as the decline of marriage, which has left many women without a stable home in which to have children. Other factors for childlessness are the increased costs involved compared to continuing with a job or career, as well as a "greater social acceptability of the child-free lifestyle".
The ONS also suggested a key reason is "the postponement of decisions about children until it may be biologically too late".
The evidence was gathered by the ONS in its latest 'cohort fertility' figures, which highlights how many children were born to women of selected ages.
For the report, researchers compared the child-bearing history of women born in 1967, who reached 45 last year, with that of women from their mothers' generation, born in 1940. In 1940, the average woman had 2.36 children, while an average member of her daughter's generation had 1.91; while those born in 1940 had an 11% chance of childlessness, compared to 19% for the 1967 generation.
For women in the two years' preceding 1967, childlessness was even higher, but a recent surge in immigration has increased the overall numbers of mothers in Britain. Particularly, since 1997, there have been high birth rates among females who have arrived in the country, but the ONS said smaller families "reflect women's postponement of child-bearing to older ages, for reasons including increased participation in higher education."
This is in addition to "the desire to establish a career, get on the housing ladder and ensure financial stability before starting a family."
(JP)
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Women Today Are 'Twice As Likely To Be Childless'
The latest official figures have revealed that the childless rate among women in the UK has almost doubled over the last three decades.Almost one in five women who reached the end of their child-bearing years in 2012 had no children – this compares to just over one in 10 of their mothers.
The figures, released by the Office for National Statistics, showed that the most common family in Britain has two children, but for a generation of women born in the late 1960s, the next most common outcome is that they will have no children.
Elsewhere, there was an increase in the number of single-child families, with 15% of mothers born in 1967 having just one child – the highest rate since the generation born in 1935.
Commenting on the trends, the ONS said there are a number of factors, such as the decline of marriage, which has left many women without a stable home in which to have children. Other factors for childlessness are the increased costs involved compared to continuing with a job or career, as well as a "greater social acceptability of the child-free lifestyle".
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The ONS also suggested a key reason is "the postponement of decisions about children until it may be biologically too late".
The evidence was gathered by the ONS in its latest 'cohort fertility' figures, which highlights how many children were born to women of selected ages.
For the report, researchers compared the child-bearing history of women born in 1967, who reached 45 last year, with that of women from their mothers' generation, born in 1940. In 1940, the average woman had 2.36 children, while an average member of her daughter's generation had 1.91; while those born in 1940 had an 11% chance of childlessness, compared to 19% for the 1967 generation.
For women in the two years' preceding 1967, childlessness was even higher, but a recent surge in immigration has increased the overall numbers of mothers in Britain. Particularly, since 1997, there have been high birth rates among females who have arrived in the country, but the ONS said smaller families "reflect women's postponement of child-bearing to older ages, for reasons including increased participation in higher education."
This is in addition to "the desire to establish a career, get on the housing ladder and ensure financial stability before starting a family."
(JP)
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