SCOTTISH women have fewer children than those elsewhere in the UK, researchers said yesterday.
Women north of the Border are more likely to stop at two children than those in England, and also leave longer gaps between their offspring.
The two-year study said the reasons behind the lower rate could include higher levels of deprivation, job
commitments and money worries.
Researchers from five Scottish universities carried out the research, funded by the Scottish Government and the Economic and Social Research Council.
The lower birth rates in Scotland are below the average needed to replace the population, the researchers said, and pose economic "challenges" in the years ahead.
It comes as concerns grow about the impact of Scotland's ageing population and the need to get more people of working age into the country to support an older community.
The study found that Scottish women did not necessarily want fewer children, but their circumstances meant this was how they ended up.
The researchers found that the ideal family size in the group of almost 800 people they questioned was 2.48 children. But in reality, the average number of children they had was 1.24.
The fertility rate for the whole of Scotland is 1.67 - compared to 1.9 in England. In 1964, the rate in Scotland was 3.09.
But while half of women in England had a second child within 3.2 years of their first, in Scottish women the gap was 3.5 years. The researchers said that the reasons behind the differing fertility rates were complex, but were not necessarily the result of Scots wanting fewer children.
They found that people chose to have smaller families for reasons that included levels of deprivation and the cost involved in having to give up work.
People who were more negative about the area in which they lived were likely to have fewer children than those in more affluent surroundings. Low crime levels and good schools were among factors that persuaded people to have more children.
The researchers also said Scottish women with medium or high levels of education were less likely than other groups, including English women, to have a third baby.
"Female employment seems to depress fertility generally, but well-educated Scottish women seem most likely to 'stop at two'," the researchers said.
Professor Frances Wasoff, from Edinburgh University, said: "A range of factors appear to have a bearing on fertility variations in Scotland. Low fertility in Scotland cannot be attributed in a simplistic way to people holding low fertility aspirations."
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Recent population projections have been optimistic, however, we must address the significant and long-term population decline."
CARE COSTS A DECIDER
SOMEHOW, a bit like the woman in the cartoon who declares: "I can't believe I forgot to have children", I find myself careering towards 40 having only had two when I really wanted three, writes Kirsty McLuckie.
Since having my second baby in 2001, the time has never seemed right to plan a third and I now have a life that doesn't seem to be able to accommodate any complications.
As a sometimes broody woman, I envy the couples who have a conventional work/childcare arrangement, meaning two children or three doesn't make a life-changing difference. But my husband and I share looking after the children, and a major part of what we do is made much easier because they are now at school all day.
Given decent affordable childcare we could have another child but without it one of us would have to give up work, because there is no way we could manage the few hours a week when our working lives overlap.
With the younger of mine just about to turn seven, I think it may be too late to start all over again.
The full article contains 646 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
