'It's not a nice world to bring children into': Births fall to the lowest level in 50 years

'It's not a nice world to bring children into': Births fall to the lowest level in 50 years11 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleEleanor Lawrie,Social affairs reporterandRobert Cuffe,Head of statisticsFamily handoutStacey Waring says being child free gives her more freedom to travel"It's just not a very nice world to bring people into, and why would I consciously do that when I can choose not to?"Stacey Waring, 40, a nurse from Nottingham, says global uncertainty has made her think twice about starting a family.She is one of an increasing number of people having either no or fewer children, contributing to a national and global picture of plummeting birth rates.In 2025, births in England and Wales fell for the fourth year in a row to their lowest level in half a century, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).Waring suggests that bringing children up in the UK today is less appealing than it was for her parents' or grandparents' generations."If I think of the childhood that I had, I was one of the last generations to grow up playing outside without a mobile phone, and it's very different now," she adds.But she says she feels lucky to live at a time when people have more choice about whether to start a family."If I'd had children, I'd have had to reduce my hours at work," she says. "I'm a huge traveller and go away whenever I can in my camper van, which I wouldn't be able to do if I had children."Birth rates in the UK have been falling steadily since 2010. There were 585,000 live births in 2025, a fall of 10,000 on the year before and the lowest overall figure since 1977.The estimated number of children born per woman fell to just under 1.4 for England and Wales in 2025, down from 1.9 in 2010.Women are also having their first child later than ever before, at an average age of 29.6 years old. That is about two years older than in 2010 when the most...