Australians hoping to start a family are delaying or giving up entirely as the cost of housing skyrockets, the Centre for Population has warned amid signs the nation’s birth rate has dropped to an all-time low. Source: The Age.
The Centre for Population, which advises state and federal governments on population, has used a new report on population trends to admit that “low fertility is here to stay”, arguing that fresh policies were needed to support people who want to start a family.
The drop-off in people having babies is so rapid that some economists now believe the states may have to reduce their expected spending on schools through the 2030s because there will be fewer students.
The fertility rate – the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime – fell to a record low of 1.5 in 2023. It has dropped by 25 per cent since 2008, with the decline accelerating over the past six years.
The Centre of Population found that while a range of social and economic issues were tied to the drop in Australia’s fertility rate, the cost of housing – including rents – was a growing impediment to people wanting to have children.
It found that while living costs for working families had increased by 55 per cent since 2007 and average wages had lifted by 70 per cent over the same period, national house values had jumped by 150 per cent.
Home ownership was an important milestone for those planning to start a family, but the cost of entering the property market made it increasingly difficult for people to buy a house or apartment.
The Population Centre, which was created by the Morrison government to provide all levels of government insights into the nation’s changing demographics, said it was clear that Australians wanted more children but felt they could not.
It urged all governments to look at new potential policy changes.
FULL STORY
The mortgage or the baby? Fertility dropping to record low (By Shane Wright, The Age)
