With birth rates plummeting in inner London, worries are growing over the impact of the capital becoming a child-free city.
The London Assembly’s Economy, Culture, and Skills Committee has called a meeting to investigate the falling fertility rates in London, which it said could lead to the centre of the city becoming a ‘child-free area’.
While the decline in birth rates in outer London mirrors the falling birth rates prevalent in the rest of England and Wales, the number of births in central London has seen a significantly greater degree of decline.
The annual number of births in London peaked in 2012 and has since fallen steadily, with 20% fewer births in 2023 than in 2012. This could impact London’s schools, businesses, and the city’s wider economy.
This decline in birth rates has been driven by a fall in fertility rates; there has been no decrease in the number of potential mothers in inner London.
Some boroughs are more affected by the decline in children than others. In Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster, the number of young children has fallen by 25%.
Primary schools and nurseries in inner London are reportedly having to close or merge as parents move to outer boroughs and out of the city entirely.
The decline in the number of young children living in London is expected to continue, which risks the capital becoming a child-free city. According to a London Councils report from February 2025, reception pupil numbers are expected to fall by 3.6% in the next four years, with all inner London boroughs expected to record a decline.
The report said the decline in children growing up in London is due to the high cost of living and the cost of purchasing or renting a home suitable for a family in the capital.
On Tuesday 14 October, the Economy, Culture and Skills Committee will begin its investigation into the declining number of children in London, seeking to determine the long-term impact of this trend and possible interventions the city and Mayor Sadiq Khan could take to address this issue.
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