Australia is in the midst of a baby recession with a new study indicating the sharpest drop in births since the 1970s when the contraceptive pill was introduced. The research from KPMG found couples are delaying or putting off having children altogether because of rising living costs.
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00:00Carina LaDelpha and Daniel Rosno have a passion for baking and started their own business
00:07in Melbourne one year ago. They've been married for two years and are just as passionate to
00:13have children.
00:14Oh, maybe two or three.
00:15Yeah, if mum's watching this, she'll definitely love to have some grandkids.
00:19But for now, it's a plan that's off the table. The reason, affordability.
00:24And the cost is crazy, so we would love to have a certain amount and, you know, be really
00:31financially stable before we even try.
00:35And there are many couples in the same boat, according to new research from KPMG that found
00:40Australia is in the midst of a baby recession, with around 26,000 fewer babies born in 2023
00:47compared with the post-COVID spike in 2021.
00:51We had to sort of look back to the 1970s to see that same level of decline coming through
00:57the numbers.
00:58The biggest declines are in the major cities, with birth rates in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth
01:02and Brisbane down significantly from 2019 levels. And birth rates in most regional areas
01:08are also down, but not nearly by as much. Researchers say the national decline of 4.6%
01:15is being driven by the rising cost of living.
01:18So people who are thinking about starting families, you know, the mortgage and the rent
01:21is kind of the first thing. If they're struggling to pay those, having a first child or additional
01:26children becomes a really tough financial proposition for them.
01:30While only Canberra and Hobart bucked the trend with slight increases, the national
01:34birth rate is not expected to improve any time soon.
01:37It wouldn't be a surprise that next year we kind of see a very weak number and even the
01:41year after that.
01:42If they don't think we could potentially afford it this year, that's what we're trying to
01:46save up to for next year.
01:48Saving for a bigger future.