One in three teenagers does not want to have children

MORE than a third of teenagers in England do not want to have children in the future, a study has found.

Fears about pregnancy and childbirth were among the reasons cited by girls in the research by University College London (UCL).

Some of the 16 to 18-year-olds were also put off by the “turbulent state of the world” and climate change. Others felt nervous at the idea of being a parent and found children a nuisance.

Nearly 1,000 sixth-form pupils were surveyed in 20 schools in England between May 2021 and July 2022.

Researchers found that 36 per cent of teenagers did not want to have children in the future. While 64 per cent said they did want to have them, nearly half (45 per cent) said they had concerns about becoming parents.

Britain’s birth rate is at a two-decade low. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show there were 605,479 live births in England and Wales in 2022, the lowest number since 2002.

Joyce Harper, a senior author professor from UCL’S EGA Institute for Women’s Health, said: “Sadly, a number of female students expressed a lack of

‘Students were left feeling ill-informed and negative towards their own fertility and ability to have children’

interest in future parenthood due to their fears about pregnancy and childbirth. Shortcomings in fertility education in schools also meant that students were left feeling both ill-informed and negative towards their own fertility and ability to have children.”

Since September 2020, relationships and sex education has been compulsory in secondary schools in England while relationships education has been compulsory in primary schools.

Statutory guidance from the Government on relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) says that facts about reproductive health, including fertility, and the menopause, should be taught to pupils by the end of secondary school.

But a second study by UCL researchers, published in the Health Education Journal, suggested there were still gaps in young people’s education and that many teenagers were not being taught about key reproductive issues such as endometriosis, infertility and the impact of lifestyle on fertility.

Nearly two in three pupils rated the sex education they had received as adequate or below, and nearly half said they did not know when a woman was most fertile.

The Department for Education said: “By the time students enter post-16 settings, they will already have had a number of years of compulsory lessons on RSHE and science, which covers topics including menstruation, contraception, fertility and the menopause.

“We are also considering a recommendation from the women and equalities select committee to make RSHE compulsory for young people in post-16 settings.”