Impact

Media impact

• Dr. Bernice Kuang was quoted in the article ”Insensitive’: pet owners react to pope’s remarks on animals and children‘, The Guardian, 6 January 2022.
• Our work looking at ‘Recent trends in UK fertility and potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic‘ was featured in an article by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) about ‘The impact of COVID-19 in pregnancy‘.
• Research on declining birth rates was referenced in the article ‘Birth rate in England and Wales dropped by 4% last year as Covid hit’, The Independent, 14 October 2021.
• Dr. Bernice Kuang was quoted in the article ‘Women aren’t “forgetting” to have children. They can’t afford to’, Refinery29, 14 October 2021.
• Previous work, led by Professor Ann Berrington, investigating whether and how the link between homeownership and entering parenthood has changed in Britain in recent decades has received a variety of media coverage:
  • ‘Buying a house no longer comes before having children, researchers find‘, The Telegraph
  • ‘New parents as likely to be in private rented housing as own homes‘, The Independent
  • ‘Young less likely to own their home before starting a family‘, The Times
• Dr. Bernice Kuang spoke to the news outlet Refinery29 about falling fertility and ‘The rise of the one-child family’.
• Professor Ann Berrington was quoted in an article by The Telegraph, ‘England’s Euros success risks baby bust’.
• Professor Hill Kulu commented on the lowest number of births recorded in Scotland in 2020 for an article in The Times, ‘Scotland marks lowest level of births in recorded history‘.
• Our working paper looking at recent trends in UK fertility and potential impacts of COVID-19 received local, national and international media coverage including:
  • ‘Britain’s falling birthrate will damage our society – and it’s not just Covid to blame‘, The Guardian.
  • ‘Covid ‘baby bust’ fears as fertility rate falls to record low’, The Telegraph.
  • ‘Generation childless: Has Covid caused a baby bust?‘, The Telegraph.
  • ‘Britain must reverse the baby bust to avoid an Italian decline’, The Telegraph
    
• Professor Jane Falkingham appeared on BBC Radio 4’s PM programme discussing population implications of women choosing a child-free life (listen from 20:42).
• Dr. Bernice Kuang was quoted in an article by The Refinery, ‘The women who decided they don’t want children during the pandemic’.
• Professor Ann Berrington commented on the falling birth rate in the UK as a result of the pandemic for an article in The Times, ‘Headache of having the kids at home puts brakes on birth rate‘.

Stakeholder impact

• Professor Jane Falkingham, Professor Ann Berrington and Professor Hill Kulu discussed their research with UK government Permanent Secretaries and Sir Ian Diamond, National Statistician, 29 October 2021.
• Professor Hill Kulu and Professor Ann Berrington contributed to the National Population Projections Expert Advisory Group meeting on 24 May 2021.
• Dr. Joanne Ellison gave a presentation at the monthly ONS DMEG (Demographic Methods Expert Group) meeting on 12 April 2021 on ‘Combining data sources to develop a Bayesian projection model for England and Wales fertility’.