Carisa is one of many Australians who are being pressured into having children by the cost of living (Credit: TikTok/AAP)
The rising cost of living is being blamed for people across Australia delaying or refusing to have children altogether, with new figures showing the country is in the midst of a “baby recession” with birth rates falling to their first in 50 years.
Carissa McHolm, who has a 1-year-old child, told Yahoo Finance how expensive it is just to pay for childcare, not to mention all the other expenses like groceries, fuel, mortgage payments, etc. She said the rising costs have forced her to reconsider expanding her family.
“We can’t afford any more and we can’t give them the life we want,” she explained. “Two is the limit because three would mean making sacrifices.”
But she is not alone.
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Australians recently took to social media to explain how the rising cost of living is putting them off having children.
“I always wanted one when I was younger. Statistics show I make an average wage and I wouldn’t want to have kids unless I could make at least twice as much and be able to buy a house,” one person said.
Is the cost of living putting you off having kids? Email: stew.perrie@yahooinc.com
“The cost of living is so high I can’t imagine I even want to live it, let alone drag the people I need to support into it. 5 years ago I was making $50,000 a year and doing just fine, now I’m making six figures and I’m broke,” wrote another.
“By the time my mum was my age she was on her second husband and fourth child,” a third added.
“I rent a room from a woman at my church. I’m pretty sure I could never afford to have children even if I wanted to.”
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People with children also face their own choices.
“We love our third child, but often think about how much easier it would be financially if we’d stuck with two,” commented one parent.
Another said: “This has given us one life, we can’t do it a second time or take the time off work.”
Australia’s ‘horrifying’ birth rate
KPMG Australia has revealed that birth numbers in 2023 will be the lowest since 2006, directly linked to the rising cost of living.
More than 289,100 babies were born last year, a significant decrease from the 315,200 that came into the world in 2021.
“Birth rates provide insight into long-term population growth and the current confidence of Australian families,” said Terry Rawnsley, urban economist at KPMG.
“Australia has not seen such a sharp decline in births since the stagflationary period of the 1970s, when contraceptives became widely available.”
Mr Rawnsley suggested stimulus money and newfound freedoms post-Covid were what encouraged Australians to want to start a family, but a lot had changed in just two years.
“With the current rising cost of living putting pressure on household finances, many Australians are deciding to delay starting or expanding their family. The combination of the pandemic and rapid economic change explains the sharp rise in fertility rates and subsequent sharp decline observed over the past four years,” he said.
Australian suburbs with the highest and lowest birth rates
KPMG Australia was able to find out which suburbs have the highest and lowest birth rates in 2023.
Best
Gilgandra, NSW: 77 births (birth rate 3.38%)
Morawa, Western Australia: 47 births (birth rate 2.90%)
Tara, Queensland: 53 births (birth rate 2.82%)
North Stradbroke Island: 18 births (birth rate 2.79%)
Lowest
Newcham, Queensland: 0 births
Moreton Island, Queensland: 0 births
Kenny, ACT: 0 Births
Melbourne CBD (northern), Victoria: 82 births (birth rate 0.36%)
Melbourne CBD (West), Victoria: 78 births (birth rate 0.40%)
What are the implications of Australians having fewer babies?
While some believe that fewer babies being born into the world could be a good thing, others say it could have huge repercussions for the country.
Australian Bureau of Statistics chief demographer Phil Browning said earlier this year that if trends continued, Australia was unlikely to replace its current generation.
Demographer Amanda Davies explained to the ABC why this is “worrisome”.
“There’s certainly concern in the community about Australians not having children and what that means for Australia and how that shapes it,” he said. [the country]” Dr. Davis said.
“There are certainly concerns about that, and about what policies would be effective in supporting Australians to have more children.”
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These policies include paid parental leave (PPL), child care, assisted reproductive technology, etc.
Finance Minister Jim Chalmers said the Government was concerned about the future of the country’s people.
“A higher birth rate would be better,” he said on The Morning Edition podcast. “I think people are putting it off, and sometimes that means taking a time out, but there are a whole range of reasons why people’s preferences are changing.”
“Raising a child is expensive.”
Although the government plans to extend PPL to six months by 2026, sending a child to nursery remains a huge daily expense.
McHome told Yahoo Finance that it has left her family in a near-desperate situation.
“It shouldn’t be normal to send your child to daycare in order to survive,” she added in the video.
“It’s horrible that in order to survive, they have to put their kids in care and have someone else look after them while they go to work and pay for childcare, food, rent, utilities, everything.”
How much does it cost to have a baby?
According to Choosi’s 2023 Cost of Children Report, the average annual expenditure on children is estimated at $12,823 per household.
Over 18 years, that comes to $230,814.
Child care, diapers and hygiene products, and car seats were the top three biggest expenses for households raising children.Chusi’s report estimated that parents need to have at least $31,462 saved up in their bank accounts before having children.
Wealth adviser Catherine Creasy said many expectant mothers and fathers don’t know how much childcare costs.
“This can make child care decisions extremely difficult, especially when the financial benefits of putting a child in daycare are low compared to the wages a parent could earn working that day,” she said in a statement.
“Rather than saving for child care costs, families tend to ensure that the second working parent’s ongoing income is more than enough to cover child care costs.”