The changing face of British mums: Fascinating charts lay bare decline of teen pregnancies

A catalogue of official data today laid bare how drastically the face of motherhood has changed over the past few decades.

Pregnancies among women over 40 have soared to the highest level since records began before the turn of the century.

Yet conceptions among teenagers have plunged over the same period, despite rebounding slightly last year. 

Over the course of the past decade the traditional view of marriage before kids has slowly gone out of fashion, with two-thirds of pregnancies in England and Wales now outside wedlock. 

The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows 824,983 conceptions were recorded across the two nations in 2021 — the first increase in six years.

Pregnancies among women over 40 have soared to the highest level since records began before the turn of the century (brown line). Yet conceptions among teenagers have plunged over the same period, despite rebounding slightly last year (grey line)

The latest Office for National Statistics data shows 523,513 conceptions were outside of marriage or a civil partnership, while 301,470 were within one

Comparing 2011 and 2021, women aged under 25 years saw a decrease in conception rates outside marriage or civil partnership. Women aged 25 years and over saw an increase in conception rates outside marriage or civil partnership

In 2021, there were 824,983 conceptions for women of all ages in England and Wales – the first increase in six years. ONS figures also showed the percentage of conceptions leading to legal abortions reached a record high of 26.5 per cent in 2021, an increase from 25.3 per cent in 2020

The figures also reveal the conception rate for women aged 40 and over has continued to rise and is now at a record high of 17.3 conceptions per 1,000 women

More than 33,000 were among those of an ‘older’ maternal age — the most ever logged, with the conception rate rising to 17.3 per 1,000 over-40s in 2021.

Experts believe the increase in older women conceiving is because they are leaving it until later in life to have children while they pursue careers, as well as advances in IVF and other fertility treatments.

Doctors tend to warn women not to leave it too late to have children. They stress that fertility drops with age and the risk of complications, including stillbirths, increases.

Experts estimate that women in their late forties have as little as a one-in-20 chance of becoming pregnant because of a lower supply of eggs which are less capable of being fertilised.

The British Fertility Society has previously warned that celebrities who have children in their 40s are giving women false hope about late motherhood.

Demand for donor eggs, one of the most common methods for older women to have a baby, has soared in recent years.

Other options include IVF, if the woman still has some of her own eggs, or intrauterine insemination — in which sperm is directly placed into the uterus using a catheter. Fertility drugs and surgery are two other possibilities.

According to the ONS, women aged 30 to 34 had the highest number of conceptions for the fifth year in a row, with a record 249,073.

This age group also had the highest conception rate of 116.2 per 1,000 women in that cohort and the lowest percentage of conceptions leading to abortion.

Some 43,116 conceptions were recorded among teen girls in 2021, up slightly on the 42,093 recorded in 2020.

But it is still less than half of the number for this group a decade ago, dropping from 30.9 conceptions per 1,000 women in 2011 to 13.2 per 1,000 in 2021. 

Out of all age groups, those under 16 saw the biggest percentage change in conception rates between 2011 and 2021 — down 4.6 per cent.

There were 2.1 conceptions per 1,000 women in this age group in 2021, compared to 6.1 conceptions per 1,000 in 2011.

Experts have suggested that teen pregnancies have fallen due to more Brits going to better sex education, attending college and university, later sexual experiences and less affordable housing. 

This cohort also had the highest percentage of conceptions leading to abortion (59.8 per cent).

This percentage has generally been increasing for all age groups since 2015, and reached a record high of 26.5 per cent in 2021, up from 25.3 per cent in 2020.

Regionally, London experienced the biggest fall in conception rates over the past decade for women aged between 15 and 44, down 20.9 per cent since 2009.

The West Midlands recorded the highest conception rate, with 78.1 conceptions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 years, while the South West recorded the smallest with 64.6 conceptions per 1,000 women. 

Women under 16 remained the age group with the lowest number of conceptions and highest percentage of conceptions leading to abortion. Over half (59.8 per cent) of all conceptions for those under 16 led to abortion

Regionally, London experienced the biggest fall in conception rates over the past decade for women aged between 15 and 44, down 20.9 per cent since 2009. The West Midlands recorded the highest conception rate with 78.1 conceptions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 years, while the South West recorded the smallest with 64.6 conceptions per 1,000 women

While the number of conceptions for women of all ages in England and Wales rose for the first time in six years, the ONS data also suggests this is the lowest overall conception rate seen since 2001, with 71.5 per 1,000 women in 2021. 

The ONS noted that Covid national lockdown and restrictions, which started in 2020 and gradually eased during 2021, may have had an impact on the behaviour of some people living in different regions so ‘could have affected the overall number of conceptions and conception rates’. 

ONS conception data for 2020 revealed pregnancies in England and Wales fell to a 17-year low during the pandemic’s first year. 

It came despite projections of a baby boom as couples were forced to spend more time together indoors.

Siân Bradford, senior research officer in child health at the ONS, said: ‘Today’s release provides further understanding of conception rates during the coronavirus pandemic, when lockdowns and restrictions may have affected behaviours. 

‘We can see that the number of conceptions in England and Wales has increased for the first time since 2015 and were at a record high for women aged 30 to 34 years, and for women aged 40 and over.’

She added: ‘Interestingly, our data shows a higher conception rate among women who were not married or in a civil partnership. 

‘Despite a higher percentage of abortions, women who were not married or in a civil partnership, still have a higher number of conceptions leading to maternity. 

‘Further work will be needed to establish whether this marks a change in trend.’