Families used to be much bigger
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Couples are deciding to have fewer children, according to the Office for National Statistics
The study compared English and Welsh women who were born in 1964 and then compared them with their mother’s generation, women born in 1937.
The results showed that by 2009 they had on average 1.9 children, while at a similar age their mothers had 2.4 children.
There has also been an increase in women deciding not to have children, the study found that in just 12 per cent of women born in 1937 were childless, but this then rose to 20 per cent of women in who were born in 1964 choosing this option.
The researchers found that for both groups, having two children was the most common, but larger families are becoming rarer.
It is thought that the stress of modern life is one of the main reasons for the decrease.
Wendy Sigle-Rushton, a senior lecturer in Social Policy at the London School of Economics, said, ‘Women may find it difficult to combine fill-time, well-paid work and childbearing.’
By Lauren King
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