Baby gloom! Fertility rate fall harms UK’s prospects

THE shrinking birth rate could soon leave Britain with too few workers, a weaker economy and unsustainable public finances, a study shows.

The total fertility rate (TFR) – the number of children per woman – stood at 1.58 in England and Wales last year, almost half the post-World War II baby boom peak of 2.93.

In Scotland, it fell to 1.29 and the TFR of 2.1 needed to secure Britain’s economic future has not been achieved since the 1970s, reports the Social Market Foundation. The think-tank says the government should consider intervening by increasing paternity leave and making childcare more affordable.

These are examples of the ‘liberal pronatalism’ adopted by countries such as France and Poland to drive up the birth rate.

‘The question of whether the government should intervene is clearly a sensitive topic,’ said Aveek Bhattacharya, of the SMF. ‘However, given the alarming fall in fertility rates, and the risks that population ageing poses to our social and economic wellbeing, it is a discussion we should not duck.’