Demographers continue to warn of the economic consequences facing the UK in the light of its declining population, the Observer reports. Nearly one quarter of women in the UK do not have children and those who do are marrying older and having smaller families. At present, there are 4.1 people aged 16-64 for every person aged 65+, a ratio that is expected to fall to 2.3-2.6 to one in the next fifty years. [The Observer, 14 December]

SPUC Dec 15, 2003