Bridget Phillipson has called on Britons to consider having more children and having them sooner, warning of the “worrying repercussions” posed by a decline in birth rates.
The Education Secretary told the Daily Telegraph falling birth rates were not only a concerning trend but one which “tells a story, heartbreakingly, about the dashed dreams of many families”.
Official data from the Office for National Statistics shows fertility rates in England and Wales dropped to 1.44 children per woman in 2023, the lowest level since records began in 1938.
Ms Phillipson said people were scared off having children due to the high costs, and wanted “more young people to have children, if they so choose”.
“A generation of young people have been thinking twice about starting a family, worried not only about rising mortgage and rent repayments, wary not only of the price of fuel and food but also put off by a childcare system simultaneously lacking in places and ruinously expensive,” she said.
Ms Phillipson’s comments come months after she told the Daily Mail young women had been given added “freedom” to have more children by expanded government-funded childcare.
Since May, working parents of children who turn nine months old before September 1 have been able to apply to access up to 30 hours of free childcare per week, until their child is old enough to start school.
“They will be able to make choices about the career that’s right for them, the hours that they want, but also [have] the freedom to think about family size and how many children they want to have, with support from the Government around childcare hours,” she said in May.
Ministers @bphillipsonMP and @AnnelieseDodds on how we're improving the quality and accessibility of childcare, opening up more choices for women and their families, and putting more pounds in their pockets. pic.twitter.com/XuGpFEh6fC
— Office for Equality and Opportunity (@oeogovuk) February 13, 2025
The expansion of funded childcare began being rolled out in England in April last year for working parents of two-year-olds.
Working parents of children older than nine months are currently able to access 15 hours of funded childcare a week, before the full rollout of 30 hours a week to all eligible families in September.
The Labour Government announced that up to 4,000 childcare places are set to be rolled out at new or expanded school-based nurseries in England from September.
