Accounting for Geographic Variation in English Period Fertility

What accounts for the large variation in fertility among local authority areas in England? Does this mainly reflect the different social composition of the population in the areas? What role do housing costs play in discouraging childbearing in some areas and encouraging it in others? This study aims to answer these questions by analysis of variation in the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) during 2001-2022 among 309 local authority areas. It finds that a substantial majority of the variation can be attributed to the ethnic and educational composition of areas. Although local area median house prices are found to have a negative impact on the area TFR, their impact is small in relation to fertility variation over time or areas.