Portsmouth women are giving birth to fewer children

WOMEN in the city and beyond are giving birth to fewer children than a decade ago, new figures reveal.
Women in Portsmouth are having fewer children, new stats showWomen in Portsmouth are having fewer children, new stats show
Women in Portsmouth are having fewer children, new stats show

Improved access to contraception and people delaying having children until later in life could be behind a record low fertility rate for women under 30 across England and Wales, experts have said.

Office for National Statistics data shows the fertility rate in Portsmouth was 1.46 births per woman last year.

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In Fareham the rate was 1.47, in Gosport it was 1.64 and Havant had a rate of 1.76.

The total fertility rate is the average number of live children a mother would have while she is of childbearing age, if she experienced the typical fertility rate every year.

In 2009, Portsmouth women were giving birth to 1.54 children each on average.

In Fareham it was 1.91, Gosport women were giving birth to 2.1 children each on average and in Havant there was an average of 2.15 children.

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Fertility rates for women in age groups under 30 years were at their lowest since records began in 1938, while the rate among those aged 40 and over rose to 1.65 births per 100 women, the highest since 1948.

The standardised mean age of a mother at childbirth in 2019 was 30.7, a figure which has been gradually rising since 1973 when it was 26.4 years.

Across England and Wales, the overall fertility rate was 1.65 children per women in 2019 – the lowest since 2002.

The ONS suggested possible reasons for the decrease in total fertility rates could be better access to contraception; a fall in mortality rates of children aged under five, resulting in women having fewer babies; and lower levels of fertility or difficulties conceiving because people are delaying having children until later in life.

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Clare Murphy, from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said the national figures ‘ tell a story of success’ in some ways.

‘The increasing age of motherhood is a reflection of improved gender parity, especially greater female participation in both higher education and the workplace,’ she said.

However, she added financial factors also ‘ weigh heavily on family planning decisions’.

‘The job market has never been more precarious, and we know the current crisis has hit women’s employment particularly hard,’ she said.

‘As a result, we may well see these trends continue into the future as women and couples choose to delay having children until they are financially stable.’ ​​​​​