BIRTH RATE (Hansard, 29 March 1976)

§ 36. Mr. Jessel
asked the Lord President of the Council if he will give his estimate of the birth rate for 1976 based on existing population trends.

§ 40. Mr. Hooley
asked the Lord President of the Council if he will give his estimate of the birth rate for 1976 based on existing population trends.

§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Privy Council Office (Mr. William Price)
I cannot at present give a precise estimate, but I would expect the birth rate to be a little lower than the provisional estimate of the birth rate for 1975 of 12.4 live births per thousand population.

§ Mr. Jessel
on the figures for a long series of years, given in a Written Answer last Friday, that would put the birth rate below the death rate for the first time ever—a birth-rate one-third below what it was in the early 1960s. What assessment do the Government make of the full economic and social consequences of such a large drop in the birth rate?

§ Mr. Price
The figures are even more significant than that. The drop between 1947 and 1975 was from 20.7 to 12.4. The Government are conducting a good deal of research into the matter. A full report on population and the drop in the birth rate will be published next year.

§ Mr. Hooley
Is my hon. Friend aware that one school of thought considers that the population of the country ought to decline overall? Do the Government have any considered policy either for or against that view?

§ Mr. Price
We hold the view that this is a matter for individual families. There is a body of opinion which regards the present drop as creating all sorts of difficulties in the longer term. The Government are conducting research into these matters and I ask my hon. Friend to await the report to be published within the next 12 months.