Finance Choices
Costs keep family sizes small
The cost of bringing up children means the average British family now has just 1.3 kids, new research reveals.
Figures from Skipton Building Society show the number of children in the average UK family is now almost half the traditional 2.4 figure.
And money is at the root cause of this decline, with almost nine out of ten people (89 per cent) saying they are under pressure due to rising costs.
This has led one person in five (20 per cent) to not have children at all, with 30 per cent of men opting to not have children and 16 per cent of women making the same decision.
"The fact that a fifth of the UK's adults are choosing to remain childless sends a strong message about modern life and the pressures it brings - particularly financially," said Jennifer Holloway, head of media relations at Skipton Building Society.
"There are a lot of factors contributing to this, including consumer debt, pension shortfalls and rising house prices - all of which has led many people to choose to enjoy the lifestyle they have instead of adding more pressure with the cost of bringing up a child.
"What's particularly unfortunate though is the number of people who wish to have a family but are being forced to delay doing so for purely monetary reasons. There's no easy solution, but if would-be parents can plan well and make the most of the money they have, the patter of tiny footsteps could come sooner rather than later."
Overall, almost two people in five (37 per cent) choose not to have children as they do not want to compromise their lifestyle, with one in seven (15 per cent) put off by the cost of raising a child.
Additionally more than one person in five people with children (21 per cent) cannot afford to have more.
Two in five of 25 to 34-year-olds (39 per cent) have held back or are still putting off parenthood because of the state of their bank balance, with 24 per cent waiting more than five years.
Figures from Skipton Building Society show the number of children in the average UK family is now almost half the traditional 2.4 figure.
And money is at the root cause of this decline, with almost nine out of ten people (89 per cent) saying they are under pressure due to rising costs.
This has led one person in five (20 per cent) to not have children at all, with 30 per cent of men opting to not have children and 16 per cent of women making the same decision.
"The fact that a fifth of the UK's adults are choosing to remain childless sends a strong message about modern life and the pressures it brings - particularly financially," said Jennifer Holloway, head of media relations at Skipton Building Society.
"There are a lot of factors contributing to this, including consumer debt, pension shortfalls and rising house prices - all of which has led many people to choose to enjoy the lifestyle they have instead of adding more pressure with the cost of bringing up a child.
"What's particularly unfortunate though is the number of people who wish to have a family but are being forced to delay doing so for purely monetary reasons. There's no easy solution, but if would-be parents can plan well and make the most of the money they have, the patter of tiny footsteps could come sooner rather than later."
Overall, almost two people in five (37 per cent) choose not to have children as they do not want to compromise their lifestyle, with one in seven (15 per cent) put off by the cost of raising a child.
Additionally more than one person in five people with children (21 per cent) cannot afford to have more.
Two in five of 25 to 34-year-olds (39 per cent) have held back or are still putting off parenthood because of the state of their bank balance, with 24 per cent waiting more than five years.
posted by Bruce Wayne at 9:00 AM
Costs keep family sizes small
6 Comments:
In future, this lack of children will translate to a lack of adults... which will translate to reduced road congesion, reduced carbon emmissions, reduced unemployment and reduced demand for housing so that there'll be more buyer choice. In fact, judging by the amount of washing machine and dishwasher usage I witnessed during a few days' stay with some friends who have two children, I'd say the power-consumption reduction, and subsequent lessening in demand for energy brought about by there being less children, will be immediate.
Personally I don't want children. I want to commit my life to other personal goals. And gues what? The cost of living, and the cost of achieving these goals, makes them a non-starter too... but while it's popular to tell sob-stories of the wannachild franternity, the rest of us, as usual, go unnoticed.
Unpopular as it is to say anything against rugrats there's a strong argument that human civilisation must become more sustainable fast and a smaller population is a good step towards that.
Also, with the level of automation we have today we don't really need as many workers as in the past (hence high level of unemployment and government make-work). So broken growth-based economics aside, it should be feasible to get through the initial population-reduction phase involving more older people.
At the same time having kids does, inexplicably, seem to be something that a lot of people want to do so I suppose it'll be hard on them.
Instead of hardworking UK couples having kids, we have immigrants instead. And they have LOTS of kids.
I would agree that high house prices are ruining the country - and its one of the reasons I'd be so cautious about taking out a 25year mortgage on a place here - whats the country going to be like when Ive finished paying it off?... dread to think.
I don't think that the type of young people who have children probably choose to have them, or even think to much about it other than how much they can get off the state to fund their own workless lives.
The uneducated have children without considering any costs.
These people certainly wouldn't consider house prices as they'll be living rent free in some sheltered housing association scheme learning from home watching "Trisha" and breeding more anti social mini me's to terrorise your neighbourhood.
I think the current consumerism, live for today & me me me attitude is more to blame. If people would spend less of their income on travel, eating out, fashion accessories & consumer electronics, they'd have their deposit & be able to move onto the stage of their lives where they choose to have kids.
From the people I was at school with (now 34), I can fairly easily split them into three groups
1) Those that had kids straight out of school. Usually several of them, often by different mothers/fathers over the next 10 years or so.
2) Those that got married in their mid 20s (usually about 2/3 years after leaving uni) and had a couple of kids within 3/4 years of that.
3) Those who either haven't got married or got married late 20s/early 30s - most have absolutely no desire to have kids, those that do think they'll have one (and only one) in a few years.
To my mind, group 1 never really experienced life without kids. Group 2 had a bit of a party at uni and then 'settled down'. Everyone else did something more with their lives and now thinks 'I have a good life, travel around the world, eat out in restaurants, save for retirement, I enjoy it, what the hell do I want kids for if it means giving up all the things I like doing?'
I've been told that I'm 'selfish' for not wanting kids. Well, it's a hell of a lot less selfish than those that have kids and try to have everything else too, and end up with screwed up kids in the process.
I think people in their early 30s and younger have a chance to see now that the 'path to the middle-class' that has existed since the end of WWII is now broken, and to avoid committing themselves to lifelong debt in an attempt to grab the old ideal. Unfortunatley I think a lot of people, particularly those now 35 to 45, haven't been able or had the chance to see this, and are in for a world of financial hurt over the next few years.
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