Women postponing their first child is resulting in many not having the number of children they want, according to a leading sociologist. Ireland’s birth rate is now well below replacement level.

Carmel Hannan, an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Limerick, said many reasons underlie “postponement”, and are often due to wanting to feel economically secure, she said. The higher the risks in people’s lives, the less likely they are to make long-term decisions.

“So, if you are in education or in a precarious job, or you don’t have a house, it is likely that having children will be delayed,” she said.

“On the other hand, we are facilitating people to have children at later ages because there is so much access to IVF treatments and other measures such as surrogacy.

She added that the more people postpone having children, “the less likely they will have their ideal family size.

“Sociologists have looked at the number of children people wanted to have versus what they had. The more educated you are and postpone, the more likely you won’t have the number of kids you wanted to have. You wanted three, but you ended up having one or two”.