A new baby holding the finger of its mother
Elizabeth Short
AUSTERITY is the principal factor behind Britain’s tumbling fertility rates, a new analysis has revealed.
Research published today by the Centre for Progressive Policy (CPP) think tank found that Britain’s birth rate has declined by 18.8 per cent, falling faster than any other G7 nation.
Commissioned by Sky News, the report analysed the average number of children born from 2010 to 2012.
CPP chief Ben Franklin cited “austerity and the austerity drive” as “the principal factor” behind the plummeting fertility rates.
He noted that falls in fertility rates were previously associated with rising levels of education and income among women. But over the past 10 years, rates slumped more in Britain than other nations because “austerity was quite significant here, and more so than in other countries.”
In 2010, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition inflicted drastic austerity measures, slashing £40 billion from public spending and £7bn from welfare benefits.
The research found that areas with higher deprivation saw faster falls, which “demonstrates the impact of government cuts to social security spending that occurred over that time.”
As the cost of living tightens its grip and support continues to be hollowed out, families are finding it increasingly difficult to cover basic expenses.
The average rent has risen by 8.4 per cent to £1,286 per month over the last year alone.
Nevertheless, austerity is expected to continue in Rachel Reeves’s autumn Budget at the end of the month, after the Chancellor announced that a £22bn black hole in government finances had been left to Labour by the previous Tory government.
‘We can’t have more austerity – We’ve had 14 years of austerity,’ says London’s mayor
Khan 'confident' of economic 'optimism', but warns 'tough Budget' must come first
by Noah Vickers - Local Democracy Reporter
13th October 2024
in London, News, Politics
London mayor Sadiq Khan. Photo by Noah Vickers
Sadiq Khan has said he is “confident” there will be “optimism” about Britain’s economy next year – but only after Rachel Reeves has delivered a “tough Budget” this autumn.
The London mayor said the Chancellor must not emulate the last Tory Government’s austerity programme, and that it was important for her Budget to “give us some hope for the spending review” in the spring of 2025.
It comes after Ms Reeves last week denied suggestions that the Government’s Budget rhetoric had spread gloom among consumers and businesses.
The Chancellor has argued that the Labour Government inherited the worst economic situation since the Second World War from the Tories.
In July, she claimed to have uncovered a £22 billion “black hole” in public finances. Her Conservative predecessor, Jeremy Hunt, said she would “fool absolutely no one” and accused her at the time of a “shameless attempt” to lay the groundwork for tax rises in her upcoming Budget.
During a visit to a baby bank in Camden on Wednesday, Mr Khan told the Standard: “What I’m hoping the Chancellor announces in her Budget on October 30 is, a plan to get us through [the] 2025/26 [financial year], which is really important – but more importantly, gives us some hope for the spending review next spring.”
He added: “That spending review is the next three years’ worth of plans. We can’t have more austerity. We’ve had 14 years of austerity.
“I’m confident that once we’ve got through 2025/26 – it will be a tough budget for obvious reasons, [due to the] £22bn black hole – there’ll be some optimism next spring, with a three-year spending review that gives everyone certainty about going forward.
“I’ll be going to [International] Investment Summit on October 14, encouraging businesses to invest in London and the UK, because that investment will lead to growth that will support families going forward.”
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