00:00Carina LaDelpha and Daniel Rosno have a passion for baking and started their own business
00:07in Melbourne one year ago. They've been married for two years and are just as passionate to
00:13have children.
00:14Oh, maybe two or three.
00:15Yeah, if mum's watching this, she'll definitely love to have some grandkids.
00:19But for now, it's a plan that's off the table. The reason, affordability.
00:24And the cost is crazy, so we would love to have a certain amount and, you know, be really
00:31financially stable before we even try.
00:35And there are many couples in the same boat, according to new research from KPMG that found
00:40Australia is in the midst of a baby recession, with around 26,000 fewer babies born in 2023
00:47compared with the post-COVID spike in 2021.
00:51We had to sort of look back to the 1970s to see that same level of decline coming through
00:57the numbers.
00:58The biggest declines are in the major cities, with birth rates in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth
01:02and Brisbane down significantly from 2019 levels. And birth rates in most regional areas
01:08are also down, but not nearly by as much. Researchers say the national decline of 4.6%
01:15is being driven by the rising cost of living.
01:18So people who are thinking about starting families, you know, the mortgage and the rent
01:21is kind of the first thing. If they're struggling to pay those, having a first child or additional
01:26children becomes a really tough financial proposition for them.
01:30While only Canberra and Hobart bucked the trend with slight increases, the national
01:34birth rate is not expected to improve any time soon.
01:37It wouldn't be a surprise that next year we kind of see a very weak number and even the
01:41year after that.
01:42If they don't think we could potentially afford it this year, that's what we're trying to
01:46save up to for next year.
01:48Saving for a bigger future.
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