Births in December and January decreased significantly from the year before. Babies born in those months would have been conceived at the start of lockdown However, the ONS data also suggests sex increased as lockdown started to ease. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), fertility rates in England and Wales for December 2020 and January 2021 showed 'relatively steep decreases' compared with a year earlier, down by 8.1% and 10.2% respectively, Births in these months would have mostly been conceived in the weeks following the start of the lockdown.
The March 2020 lockdown led to a drop in fertility rates and not the baby boom previously predicted, it has emerged. Previous data collected by the long-running National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles found physical intimacy between British couples halved during the first lockdown.
Other studies of the under-35s have found that during the three lockdowns, a third of couples were having less sex with their partner and a quarter none at all. The new data released from the ONS seems to reflect a drop in sex throughout the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the total fertility rate in England and Wales for this year could end up being the lowest ever recorded, the ONS suggested. Based on data for the first three months of the year, the rate for 2021 is estimated to be 1.53 children per woman. This is down from 1.92 children per woman in 2011.
While women are twice as likely to lose sexual interest in their partner compared with men, according to a study by University College London, other researchers lay the blame for the lack of lockdown libido on that mood-killer – stress.
