'Romance famine' blamed for Britain's plunging birth rate as young women 'hold unrealistically high standards for men'
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By JO MACFARLANE, HEALTH REPORTER
Published: | Updated:
Britain's birth rate is declining at a record rate because of a 'romance famine' as young women hold unrealistically high standards for men, claims a peer.
Baroness Camilla Cavendish, 58, says a cause is 'empowered and successful' women rejecting men for 'not being 6ft tall' and not having stable careers.
The crossbench peer, who spent five years researching the problem for her book Generation Maybe, told Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday that men 'suffer most' in a crisis leaving them 'involuntarily childless'.
She said: 'Part of what's happened with deindustrialisation, men falling out of secure work, is that straight women increasingly say they can't find a reliable partner.
'The biggest single reason people give for not having kids – other than not wanting them, which is fine – is that they can't find someone to have those children with.
'That's partly about leaving it later and growing up later, but it's a romance famine we're seeing across all countries.
'Women are putting their filters on dating apps at 6ft, excluding half of men available, but fundamentally what a lot of women are saying, as we get more empowered and successful, is they can't find someone who's stable enough to have a relationship with.'
Women today have 1.39 children on average, compared to 1.69 in 2000 and 2.69 in 1960 – a 48 per cent drop.
Baroness Camilla Cavendish says a cause of Britain's plunging birth rate is is 'empowered and successful' women rejecting men for 'not being 6ft tall' and not having stable careers (File image)
This will 'upend the welfare state' as there will be fewer people to pay taxes and prop up pensions, she said.
She added couples are thinking far harder about whether to have children than ever before.
A counsellor told her couples come to her with a list of pros and cons. 'The cons are obvious: have to get an extra bedroom, have to buy a car, time spent.
The list of pros is really abstract. It's, 'Will I feel love, will it be reciprocated?'.
'Getting them over the line is much harder than it used to be and many end up getting a dog instead.'
But fertility professor Baroness Geeta Nargund said: 'I would be cautious about saying the problem is because women simply can't find suitable partners.
'People don't own their homes and their family may be a distance away.
;The state can help by bringing down childcare costs and creating a supportive environment.'
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