Author: Partick Parkinson
Australia’s total fertility rate, averaging 1.48 children per woman during her childbearing years, has reached an all-time low. This figure is far below the replacement rate of just over 2 children per woman. This is not uniquely an Australian problem. Many other developed nations have experienced an even sharper decline in fertility than in Australia.
The likelihood that fertility will continue to decline is evidenced by people’s intentions concerning
how many children they would like to have. New data released from the Household Income and
Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) indicates that younger adults, particularly women aged
18-29, said in 2023 that they wanted fewer children than respondents said they did in 2005. For
women aged 25-29, the average desired number fell from 2.52 to 2.13; among men aged 25-29, it
dropped from 2.28 to 1.86. This indicates that the decline in fertility in Australia is likely to
accelerate rather than reverse if current trajectories continue.
These changes in the attitudes of younger people are part of an increase in the number of both
women and men aged 18-44 years old who say they neither have, nor intend to have, children. In
2005, less than 8% of women of childbearing age said that they do not intend to have children. By
2023, that figure had risen to around 14%. In 2005, about 11% of men said the same. By 2023,
that figure was 15%.
