Empty classrooms are a sign of falling fertility and high living costs. But they should also free up more resources to spend on young people
School closures are an alarming symptom of Britain’s shrinking birthrate. Several factors have contributed to falling enrolment, but the most significant is that people are having fewer children. Declining pupil numbers could be an excuse to free up spending for an ageing population. Instead, the government should see this as an opportunity to improve the quality of provision for young people.
The fall has been most acute in inner London, where 90 schools have shut since 2021. In Southwark, where the number of children born each year has dropped by more than a third since 2010, eight primary schools have closed in the past six years. As London’s councils have observed, high living costs are pricing families out of the centre and dissuading people from having children. It is no surprise that Islington and Westminster, two of the most expensive places to live in Britain, also have among the lowest fertility rates in England and Wales.
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