By Sama Marwan,
A leading expert on aging has warned that the increasing number of women choosing to have children later in life means Britain must rely on immigration to boost birth rates, despite the government’s anti-immigration stance, according to The Telegraph.
Sarah Harper, a professor of gerontology at the University of Oxford, told the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee that the so-called replacement rate of at least 2.1 children per mother—needed to maintain the UK’s population—is unlikely to ever return.
Instead, she stated that the UK and other aging nations should turn to foreign-born mothers to support population growth.
The official fertility rate in England and Wales has reached an all-time low of 1.44 births per woman. Statistics published at the end of last year showed that the number of children born to British mothers had dropped by a quarter over the past 15 years.
Meanwhile, the fertility rate among foreign-born mothers has increased over the past two years, reaching 2.03 children per woman—close to the UK’s replacement rate. Professor Harper emphasized: “We have to accept that we are moving towards low-fertility societies. The only solution to counter this is immigration.”
She added, “We have an increasing group of women who want to have children later in life, and perhaps only one child. The idea that we can sustain ourselves through births alone—I don’t think that will happen.”
The aging expert noted a generational shift, explaining that “many women who once assumed adulthood meant having children are now reconsidering that expectation.”
Experts pointed out that more women are prioritizing careers or homeownership over having children, leading to delayed childbirth or the decision to remain child-free.
In the UK, the average age of mothers at childbirth has risen from 26.4 years in 1975 to 30.9 years in 2022—the highest on record. Meanwhile, the Office for National Statistics projects that the number of people over 85 will nearly double to 3.3 million by 2047.
