The number of babies born in the State increased in 2021 for the first time since 2009, however, a rise that was attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of births continued to be high in the first three months of 2022 but dropped in the early months of this year.
More than two in five births in the first three months of the year were outside marriage or civil partnership. “People who had been postponing for a variety of reasons reflected on it, they were home together and they realised there was no need to postpone. In an Irish context, that increase in births was driven by the older cohort so women 35 to 40 and 40 to 45,” she said.“It meant both partners were at home so they could try. There are conversations about facilitating [child birth] and in the Irish case, it’s really about childcare.
“If everybody is working, childcare is expensive so maybe they’re not going to have as many kids. And everyone is working because, of course, housing is expensive. And for that age group, these things matter. There’s a squeeze affecting that particular demographic,” he said.