Why Australia’s birth rate has plummeted to a record low

Australians are having fewer children than ever before and Victorians are leading the trend.

Nationwide, the birth rate dropped from 1.66 in 2019 to 1.58.

Victoria has the lowest birth rate in the country, with 1.43 births per woman. There were 3846 less births in the state last year than the year before, a drop of almost 4.9 per cent.

Demographer and social researcher Claire Madden says the pandemic and lockdowns explain the fall.

“Economic uncertainty is a big piece of the puzzle here,” she told Ross and Russel.

“We’ve seen the drop most significantly in our younger generations as well and I know it’s them at the front of the job losses.

“Job certainty has been really shaken for that generation.”

Press PLAY below to hear more about the reasons for the falling birth rate