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The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Poll reveals the one major reason Britons aren't having children
Nearly half of British adults are putting off or deciding against having children, with money worries a top factor, a stark new poll reveals. A survey of 18 to 50-year-olds from pollsters Ipsos, shared exclusively with The Independent , shows that 44 per cent of adults plan to delay having children, or are deciding against it altogether – with the cost of raising children, including food, clothing and education, cited as the most common reason (39 per cent). And a third of prospective parents said they were put off by the cost of childcare in the UK – despite the government's rollout of extended free nursery hours. While a third of respondents said they weren't having children because they simply didn't want to, others said they were put off by fears over climate change, with worries over how global warming will affect their child's future, and how having children may harm the environment. The poll comes as birth rates in England and Wales are at their lowest rate on record, and as deaths are expected to consistently outnumber births in the UK from 2030. Lord Michael Farmer, a vocal supporter of family stability, criticised the systemic issues underlying low birth rates and argued that parents needed more financial support. 'The UK's tax system discourages childbearing; it is one of the least family-friendly in the OECD. No allowances are made for dependants, so our tax system also disadvantages single parents. The current level of marriage allowance gives scant recognition of low-earning or non-earning second parents,' he said in a House of Lords debate in November. In 2023, more people died than were born in the UK. This gap is only expected to widen between 2030 and 2050, according to projections from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This means that the majority of population growth is driven by immigration rather than births. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson told The Independent in June that the steep decline in birth rates is 'a big challenge' for the UK, which needs to be addressed. She added: 'I've heard from lots of people that the choices that they wanted to make have been constrained, in terms of when to start a family and how many children they have, by factors like the cost of childcare, housing costs, instability at work.' Fertility rates are shrinking faster than in any other G7 nation, falling by 25 per cent in the UK since 2010. However, women are still having slightly more children on average than those in Japan, Italy and Canada. Despite advancements in flexible working and parental leave, some parents polled said they believed that it is harder to raise children now than in previous generations, with the cost of living and the price of housing increasing beyond pay. The majority of adults (56 per cent) believe it is harder to be a parent in the UK today than 20 years ago, with 61 per cent of women saying it was harder to raise a child now compared to men (52 per cent). And even older generations agreed, with those aged 55 to 75-year-olds the most likely to believe (59 per cent) that parenthood is trickier now than two decades ago. The decline in birth rates has generated much discussion among politicians. Recently, Nigel Farage pledged he would abolish the two-child benefit cap if Reform came into power, as part of a '180-degree shift' to reverse low birth rates. But his stance has not yet fully won over the public, who still trust Labour more than any other party to support parents and families, according to Ipsos' poll. This is in spite of Sir Keir Starmer's refusal to remove the two-child benefit cap, after pledging to reduce child poverty, which sparked public rebellion among Labour MPs. Meanwhile, the Tories are less trusted to support families than both Reform and Labour. The party's current leader, Kemi Badenoch, has previously said she believes maternity pay is 'excessive', and that 'families on benefits should make the same responsible decisions about having children as everyone else'. But more than 1 in 5 people said that they don't trust any major party to support families with their policies. Tackling affordable housing is the most popular policy change, which would lead to people having more children, according to 42 per cent of Ipsos respondents. The cost of renting in Britain has now reached new record highs, according to Rightmove , with average asking rent at £1,365 per month. Meanwhile, fewer young people are buying homes, as housing prices are far outpacing wage growth. Over 1 in 3 adults also believe that making childcare more affordable for parents with preschool children would incentivise more people to have children. The government has rolled out 15 hours of free childcare to children aged nine months to two years old, which from September will be extended to 30 hours of childcare a week. However, recent calculations from the Institute of Fiscal Studies, revealed by The Independent, show that uptake is likely to be 25 per cent higher than expected, and since the number of childcare places has barely increased in recent years, it will be a struggle for many to secure places. Improving access to free nursery hours will no doubt be a welcome move, since full-time childcare on average costs between 37 to 43 per cent of the average income in the UK.
BBC News
20 minutes ago
- BBC News
Scotland gives Trump three things he likes - and one thing he doesn't
A list of Donald Trump's favourite things would be very unlikely to include raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens (as Julie Andrews famously sang in The Sound of Music).Instead, the president's list would surely have on it playing golf, a way to brazenly promote his commercial interests and, thirdly, trade deals that generate billions of dollars for the United wonder he looks so pleased with himself - his working holiday in Scotland has delivered on all three of these passions. On what was billed as a "private visit" he got a lot of work is taking home with him a trade deal with the EU which is not only the largest in history, it is also extremely favourable to the EU will spend hundreds of billions of dollars buying American energy and military equipment as well as investing billions more in the US return European goods will be subject to a 15% tariff when they are exported to the US rather than the 30% Mr Trump had threatened. The deal is an important achievement for Trump to be able to boast about, even if he has failed to conclude the "90 deals in 90 days" he had also seemed to relish hosting Sir Keir and Lady Starmer at his Turnberry golf resort on pictures - Trump's trip to ScotlandWinners and losers in US-EU deal It was a peculiar spectacle, the British prime minister being welcomed as guest in his own the PM was prepared to overlook the protocol when he was being treated to an unusual and valuable amount of face time with the US is, after all, a man whose foreign policy is abnormally influenced by his personal relations with other world talks were dominated by the crisis in Gaza. Starmer appeared to make some headway as he pressed Trump to use his influence to get more food into the Palestinian territory. Trump said afterwards that the US would work with the UK and other European partners to set up food centres, adding that he will tell Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to ensure that food gets to people who need it. "I want to make sure they get the food, every ounce of food".He also seemed to give the green light to Starmer to officially recognise the state of Palestine even though that is not something the US will do. "I'm not going to take a position, I don't mind him taking a position," he also made a significant change to his position on the conflict in revealed that he is now giving Russian President Vladimir Putin only 10-12 days to agree to a ceasefire, not the 50 days he had previously given him. "There's is no reason in waiting… I want to be generous but we just don't see any progress being made."How Trump uses golf for political advantage All of these major announcements were made during an exceptionally long, wide-ranging and free-wheeling press conference, during which the US president appeared extremely was prepared to talk at length about anything from wind power to immigration, including his views on King Charles and the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. There was one issue he could not escape, much as he perhaps wanted was inevitably asked about Jeffrey Epstein, as the long running controversy about why he is refusing to release all the files held by the US government on the deceased sex offender followed him across the Atlantic.A van displaying an old photograph of Trump at a party with Epstein was driving around Aberdeenshire to make sure the president could not escape the told us for the first time why he fell out with the disgraced financier many years ago, saying that Epstein had poached staff from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and he refused to talk to him after he denied ever having sent a lewd drawing to Epstein (as reported by the Wall St Journal), claiming that he only ever draws very basic pictures of intrusion of the Epstein scandal into Trump's Scottish trip was a reminder of what inevitably awaits him on his return to Washington but it did not seem to dent his buoyant Epstein case is tearing apart MAGAWhat do we know about the Epstein files? A few anti-Trump protests were staged. But they were largely kept away from the president himself and were remarkably muted compared with previous most determined demonstrators were Trump fans who turned out to greet him as he landed in Prestwick and at both golf resorts, holding large signs welcoming him to president also took every opportunity to use this trip to proudly promote his two Scottish golf hosted the press conferences with Starmer and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen in the newly renovated ballroom at Turnberry, boasting of the opulent new ceiling and brand new windows at the same time as discussing famine in Gaza. Arriving in Aberdeenshire with Starmer on board his Marine One helicopter, he took a couple of laps to show off the new golf course before talks with John Swinney on Tuesday morning, he had the Scottish first minister attend the official opening of the Trump International Golf Links in the village of Balmedie, along with several VIPs and a phalanx of TV is exceptionally unusual for a US president to so nakedly use his office to promote his own commercial interests but it is something Donald Trump clearly revels in as much as he enjoys playing golf. Which he managed to do on almost every day of this trip.
Powys County Times
an hour ago
- Powys County Times
Starmer convenes Cabinet for urgent meeting on Gaza
Sir Keir Starmer has gathered senior ministers for an urgent Cabinet meeting on Gaza. It comes as the Prime Minister faces renewed pressure to recognise Palestine as a state immediately and after he held an emergency call with France and Germany at the weekend. The Prime Minister is focusing on securing aid for those on the ground and a 'sustainable route' to a two-state solution, Downing Street has said, and emphasised that the UK recognising Palestine was a matter of 'when, not if'. Sir Keir has started working with France and Germany on a process to 'bring about a lasting peace' in the Middle East and shared the plans with US President Donald Trump when they met in Scotland on Monday. He is expected to share details with Arab states and other key allies in the coming days. The Cabinet meeting, which some ministers are attending in person and others virtually, comes after Parliament broke for its summer recess last week. Pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside Downing Street as the meeting took place. Four people wearing white headdresses posed solemnly above what appeared to be a model shrouded corpse and crowd of people gathered banging pans with spoons, many of them wearing keffiyehs and carrying Palestinian flags. A metres-long banner was held in front of the black gates in Whitehall reading 'genocide in Gaza' and 'death from famine and disease'. Speaking on Tuesday morning, Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said he would not 'pre-empt' the meeting, but added it was 'right' to 'assess what Britain can do' to ease the situation in Gaza. He also said the Palestinian people should be 'rewarded for what they've been through' and given the tools 'to move them towards the kind of peace, stability and dignity that every citizen in every country is owed'. Amid international alarm over starvation in Gaza, Israel announced at the weekend that it would suspend fighting in three areas for 10 hours a day and open secure routes for aid delivery. The UK confirmed it was taking part in airdrops of aid into the territory. Aid agencies have welcomed the new measures but said they were not enough to counter the rising hunger in the Palestinian territory. Sir Keir said that the British public is 'revolted' at the scenes of desperation in Gaza as he appeared alongside Mr Trump at his Turnberry golf course on Monday. The US president hinted at sticking points in US-led negotiations over a peace deal, saying Palestinian militant group Hamas had become 'very difficult to deal with' in recent weeks. He suggested this was because they held only a small remaining number of Israeli hostages. Sir Keir's official spokesman said on Monday: 'This week, the Prime Minister is focused on a pathway to peace to ensure immediate relief for those on the ground, and a sustainable route to a two-state solution. 'We are clear that the recognition of the Palestinian state is a matter of when, not if, but it must be one of the steps on the path to a two-state solution as part of a wider plan that delivers lasting security for both Palestinians and Israelis.' Sir Keir has likened the plan he is working on with France and Germany to the coalition of the willing, the international effort to support Ukraine towards a lasting peace. His spokesman said the plan would build 'on the collaboration to date that paves the way to a long-term solution on security in the region'. Sir Keir is meanwhile facing calls from a growing number of MPs to recognise a Palestinian state immediately. More than 250 cross-party MPs have now signed a letter calling for ministers to take the step, up from 221 on Friday. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds on Monday dismissed the idea that there is a split at the top of Government over when to recognise a Palestinian state, saying 'we all want it to happen'. Health Secretary Wes Streeting is among those to have signalled a desire for hastened action, calling for recognition 'while there's still a state of Palestine left to recognise', while Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the Government wants to recognise a Palestinian state 'in contribution to a peace process'.
