'Dating is fruitless so I've frozen my eggs' - why fewer UK babies are being born

The fig of babies calved successful England and Wales is present the lowest since the 1970s, authoritative statistic show.

The fertility rate - which measures however galore children are calved per pistillate during her child-bearing years - is the lowest connected grounds astatine 1.44. Scotland's is adjacent little astatine 1.3.

Britain is not unsocial - astir countries are experiencing declining fertility and some are adjacent going to large lengths to make a babe boom.

So what's causing the fall-off successful fertility? There's the precocious outgo of bringing up children, the unit to enactment successful enactment and the situation of uncovering the close partner.

But there's besides grounds that much and much young adults don't program connected having immoderate children astatine all.

BBC News has spoken to 2 women and 2 men successful their aboriginal thirties - the mean property astatine which radical successful England and Wales go parents - to get their thoughts connected the issue.

Ellie Lambert, who lives successful Sheffield, wants to person children but says she hasn't recovered a suitable partner.

Two years ago, she spent £18,000 connected 2 cycles of egg freezing. "I find it truly frustrating, it's a batch of outgo for thing that whitethorn not ever pb to anything," she says.

She hopes to usage them if she meets someone, oregon if she reaches a fiscal concern wherever she tin "go it alone" with the assistance of a sperm donor.

Ellie says she 's acrophobic astir the further fiscal unit connected single-parent households.

A report from the Child Poverty Action Group past twelvemonth recovered the mean outgo of raising a kid to property 18 was £166,000 for a mates and £220,000 for a lone parent.

Though Ellie thought she would conscionable idiosyncratic by her precocious 20s, "despite proactively being connected each of the apps, it conscionable didn't happen."

She says dating had go "fruitless", citing the seemingly endless prime that dating apps connection arsenic a factor, with less radical wanting to commit.

But going it unsocial would beryllium "a large decision", says Ellie, who earns much than £60,000 connected a fixed-term contract.

Having already spent her savings connected ovum freezing, she says it would outgo a further £10,000 to usage a sperm donor with IVF.

HGV operator Chris Taylor and canine groomer Gemma Wrathmell jointly gain an income of astir £60,000 and person been unneurotic for 11 years.

The couple, who unrecorded successful Wakefield successful West Yorkshire, considered having children.

"We person had heavy conversations wherever we spell done the options and sermon things similar school, outgo and routine," Gemma says.

But the decision was that the cost was excessively high.

"After each our bills and essentials determination is nary country successful the fund to accommodate a child," Chris says. "We don't spot however our finances volition get immoderate amended wrong the adjacent fewer years."

As a result, they person taken a "definitive decision" - Chris is seeking to person a vasectomy, aft years of Gemma having a contraceptive implant.

"Some radical person said you'll alteration your mind, but they cognize it's our decision," says Gemma.

"I'm besides not that maternal," she adds.

For Dami Olonisakin, a enactment and relationships podcaster who lives successful London, improvements successful fertility treatments - specified arsenic ovum freezing - are "empowering" and springiness women "more power than ever".

Motherhood, she says, is not thing to "be taken lightly".

"Childcare costs are soaring, maternity policies are limited, women fundamentally person to deliberation truly hard," she says.

She besides wants to person the "support system" of a semipermanent spouse successful spot earlier having children.

But she isn't successful a hurry. "I don't consciousness I'm successful a unreserved to settee down and person kids conscionable due to the fact that it's expected," she says.

Instead she is focusing connected her vocation aft increasing up successful a household that "didn't person anything".

"I retrieve reasoning to myself, 'I americium ne'er ever putting a kid done this'," she says.

"[My parents] perfectly did their best, but I've ever said I volition not person a kid until I'm... ready."

Kari Aaron Clark, a elder probe chap astatine the Royal Academy of Engineering, earns £53,000 but feels helium can't spend to rise a kid successful London.

Four years ago, his wage was £22,000 portion completing his PhD.

His spouse Kaitlyn, who is presently a PhD student, is nether akin fiscal strain.

It means contempt Kari's above-average salary, helium has had little clip to prevention for a spot - thing helium thinks is indispensable earlier becoming a genitor due to the fact that of the "relatively insecure" quality of renting.

He besides cites the costs of childcare. According to a recent report by children's foundation Coram, the mean play terms for a full-time childcare spot for children nether 3 successful the UK is astir £300, compared with astir £430 successful interior London.

Kari says his views are shared by Kaitlyn - and they are some acrophobic astir the effects of the climate crisis.

"I'm rather blessed with the thought of adopting. That mode I'm helping idiosyncratic already struggling successful the system," helium says.

"I tin follow aft they've got done the childcare stage."

But contempt his existent pessimism astir the viability of becoming a biologic parent, Kari says helium "wouldn't constitute it off".

This each raises the question of what the aboriginal holds if less children are being born.

Declining fertility rates are not conscionable astir radical delaying parenthood, but astir a increasing inclination of radical not having children, says Brienna Perelli-Harris, prof of demography astatine the University of Southampton.

Data from the caller UK Generations and Gender Survey suggests that childless adults contiguous are acold little assured they volition person children, with a 4th of 18 to 25-year-olds saying they would astir apt oregon decidedly not person a child.

"Gen Z are much apt to privation to enactment childless," she says. "Before, it mightiness person been much of a taboo - it's present much acceptable.

"And it's down to economical factors similar aboriginal income, childcare costs and employment."

"In the agelong term... the colonisation volition commencement to shrink," Prof Perelli-Harris adds.

"If it gets to 1.3 [children per woman] - that's seen arsenic precise debased and authorities should commencement getting concerned."

Concerns person antecedently been raised astir shrinking fertility rates successful countries wherever there's agelong been a downward trend, including the request for much young radical to enactment arsenic carers for an ageing colonisation and wage tax.

But populations tin proceed to turn for a agelong clip aft fertility falls beneath 2.1 children per woman, known arsenic the replacement level - the fig of children required to guarantee a colonisation replaces itself from 1 procreation to the adjacent - the ONS says.

This is the lawsuit successful the UK and different countries similar Spain and Italy, wherever the fertility complaint is adjacent lower.

"Immigration tin stall colonisation diminution oregon adjacent reverse it," says Prof Perelli-Harris.

"I bash not deliberation we volition spot the UK colonisation commencement to diminution for the foreseeable future, though the ageing of the colonisation volition go adjacent much pronounced."