Australia is surging towards cracking a major population milestone next month, numbers expected to pass a staggering 25 million people.
More than 42,000 newborns and migrants are expected to arrive by July 17, if numbers continue growing at their current rate
With a new child born every minute and 43 seconds and immigrant rates rising like never before, the impending achievement comes as no surprise.
In 2017 the country’s population ballooned quicker than every other country in the developed world, pushing it to the 53rd most populated nation in the world.
Australia is on track to hit a population milestone, of 25million next month
The birth rate has however declined compared to previous generations despite there being overall more parents, according to demographer Mark McCrindle.
In 1961 women would give birth to an average of 3.5 children throughout their lifetime, which had dramatically decreased to 1.9 a decade ago, and even lower to 1.7 in 2017.
‘There are more new parents in Australia than ever before, even though they are having slightly fewer children than they were a decade ago, and significantly fewer than their parents,’ Mr McCrindle told the Daily Telegraph.
Lower birth rates aren’t the only thing setting the current generation apart from its predecessors, with figures showing women are now more likely give birth later in life than before.
With more migrants and more babies being born the country is rapidly growing
Women are also likely to spend less time in hospital, more likely to give birth to a boy, and have a greater chance at delivering via a cesarean.
The average age of new mothers is 31 – born in 1986 – and they are likely to have the names Jessica, Sarah and Rebecca, the three most popular names that year.
Their children have a good chance of being named Oliver or Charlotte, and for every 100 girls born, there are 106 boys.
The mothers of women giving birth in 2018 were most likely to have had children at the age of 28 – a time when the average post-birth time in hospital was two weeks.
Nowadays new mums stay under supervised care for an average of 2.9 days and in some cases, a mere couple of hours.
Yet despite this the birth rate has declined compared to previous generations
Improvements in technology have dramatically improved infant mortality rate, with mothers now often feeling overwhelmed by information compared to those in the post-war era.
Mothers previously relied on information from their parents and grandparents, and oftentimes women’s magazines, but now had access to a wealth of knowledge, according to author and baby expert Pinky McKay.
‘I think new mothers can get overwhelmed by so much information about what’s right and wrong,’ Ms McKay said.
By the 1980s there was a huge move towards natural births and mothers had access to a wealth of information on pregnancy as the advice industry boomed.
The trend towards natural births seems to have been curtailed as more mothers are getting caesarians. In 1986 the rate in NSW was 15.9 per cent on average, while today it has climbed to 32.9 per cent.
The trend towards natural births seems to have been curtailed as more mothers are getting caesarians.
‘It’s interesting that in some respects that has gone backwards — in some hospitals now the caesarean rates are reaching 70 per cent.’
After infant detahs to SIDS peaked in 1986 infoent mortality rates have fallen by 86 per cent.
Advice such as lying babies on their backs and not to smoke has saved an astonishing 9967 lives.