00:00Why are so many London schools closing down? The number of pupils in the city is falling,
00:04fuelled by declining birth rate and rising costs for housing and childcare.
00:08More than 90 schools in the capital have either closed or merged over the past five years,
00:12according to London councils. And according to the Education Policy Institute,
00:16nine of the UK's ten fastest-shrinking local authorities for primary school children are in
00:20London. This is not just a problem for primary schools. Secondary school numbers, which have
00:25been rising until 2026, will start to fall next year, said Chris Smith in the Financial Times.
00:31But London's overall population is on the rise. In the decade up to 2023, the population increased
00:36by more than 500,000, according to London Assembly Economy, Culture and Skills Committee data.
00:42Other major European cities are also experiencing a similar decline, said the Financial Times.
00:46Primary school enrolment in Paris has fallen by a quarter in the last ten years,
00:50while the same group in New York fell almost 20% in the decade to autumn 2024.
00:54So why is this happening? Many experts think unaffordable housing and childcare are the main
00:59causes. The typical London home costs 11.1 times the average salary, compared to 7.7 times across
01:05England more broadly. Rents in London are also 60% higher than for England as a whole,
01:10and nursery costs for a child under two in inner London are 34% higher than the English average.
01:16The birth rate in London also continues its steady downward march, said the Telegraph.
01:20Many fertility rates in London hovered just above one birth per woman in 2024,
01:25where 2.1 is needed to maintain a population without external migration.
01:29However, some initiatives in Europe have succeeded in stopping this trend, said the Financial Times.
01:34In Vienna, authorities provide family-sized homes, often through large-scale subsidised or municipal
01:39housing. Copenhagen also implements strong childcare and parental leave policies.
01:44The demographics of both cities buck the trend of falling child numbers.
