It’s the adults that are the problem. Another day, another story about falling fertility rates. In news to absolutely no one the UK remains on a downward slide. In 2025, births in England and Wales fell for the fourth year in a row to their lowest level in nearly half a century, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). They have been falling steadily since 2010. There were 585,000 live births in 2025, a fall of 10,000 on the year before and the lowest overall figure since 1977.