Will London become a childless city?

A survey of Londoners has found that almost a third (30 per cent) consider the city to be an unsuitable place to raise children, with four in ten Londoners (41 per cent) considering it to be a suitable place.¹

London is facing a significant demographic challenge. After a decade of rapid growth in the 2000s, the number of children living in London has since gone into decline at a faster rate than elsewhere in the UK since the early 2010s.²

Between 2013 and 2023, London’s population of 0-9 year olds decreased by 99,100, despite the overall population of the capital increasing by 506,000 during the same period.³ The decline has been sharper in Inner London than Outer London. This has given rise to concerns that London – and particularly Inner London – could become a “child-free area”.⁴

The London Assembly Economy, Culture and Skills Committee has today launched its report - A London for every child: Reversing the city’s declining child population – setting out steps for the Mayor to make London a more child-friendly city.

Families in London face serious financial and practical barriers, including the cost of childcare and housing. For families who stay in the capital, they are often faced with new housing developments that are designed to discourage children playing in their community, or unwelcoming attitudes from neighbours or the authorities.

The declining number of children is having a notable effect on London’s school system. Schools with falling roll numbers are facing increasing financial pressure since their funding is provided on a per-pupil basis. In recent years, this has resulted in a rise in the number of schools in London that have closed or merged due to falling pupil numbers.

Key recommendations in the report include:

• London should seek to become a UNICEF Child Friendly City. The Mayor should identify the steps required for London to achieve this recognition and pursue actions that enable him to do so.
• The Mayor should include specific requirements for homes suitable for children across all types of tenure in the next London Plan. These requirements should be included in the draft London Plan, which is due to be published in 2026.
• The Greater London Authority (GLA) should develop a map of all the spaces in London that children and young people can access for play and informal recreation. This would help boroughs identify where they have a deficit or surplus of provision and support cross-borough collaboration.

Hina Bokhari OBE AM, Chair of the London Assembly Economy, Culture and Skills Committee, said:

“Children and young people are essential to London’s vibrancy as a global city. Providing the right conditions for children to flourish as they grow up and choose to remain here as adults is essential to the city’s long-term economic, social, and cultural dynamism, which further benefits the rest of the country.

“We cannot allow London to become a place where only a small number of families can afford to live and even fewer can manage to enjoy a good quality of life.

“The cost of housing and childcare, housing developments that are not designed with children in mind, and systems and attitudes that make family life more difficult are contributing to the declining number of children in the capital.

“We heard that falling pupil numbers are placing real pressures on London’s schools. As enrolments decline, so too does funding, which makes already tight budgets even harder to manage.

“This can lead to difficult decisions, including reducing the extracurricular activities that enrich pupils’ experiences, or cutting back on essential supports for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

“London must prioritise keeping children and families in the city. Without urgent action, we risk seeing even more families take the decision to leave and set up their lives elsewhere.”