Australians are putting off having children because housing is too unaffordable

Young Australians are delaying having children because housing is too unaffordable, leaving families nowhere to grow.

A 28-year-old Brisbane nurse with a friend who rents a share house told Daily Mail Australia that rising house prices are putting her off having children for the time being.

“It’s definitely on my mind that I can’t afford to have children right now,” she said.

‘At this stage I have just finished my studies and am trying to build my career so it becomes too expensive.’

A TikTok influencer who calls herself Alice The Hippy has named the cost of living crisis as one of her ten reasons why she doesn’t want to have children.

“Number one, they’re expensive and I’ve always said that if I ever had children, I would want to be financially free,” she said.

‘And that’s because I want to be able to stay home with my child.

“I would also want to be able to provide my child with absolutely everything he needs and what he wants, and I wouldn’t want to have any financial stress either, because financial stress is just not great.”

Alice noted that children are “so expensive and you’re even more stressed.”

The Australian Institute of Family Studies estimates that raising a child costs $170 per week, which equates to $8,840 per year or $159,120 by age 18.

Australia’s population growth rate of 2.5 percent in the year to September was the fastest since the early 1950s, but the natural growth rate, which takes into account births and deaths, fell by 3.9 percent.

Immigration in the year to September accounted for 83 percent of Australia’s population growth, with a record 548,800 migrants and just 111,000 net births.

Nearly two-thirds, or 63 percent, of migrants moved to New South Wales and Victoria, hosting 186,433 and 161,758 foreigners respectively.

As a result, the average house price in Sydney rose 11.7 per cent to $1.396 million in the year to February.

Immigration in the year to September accounted for 83 percent of Australia’s population growth, with a record 548,800 migrants and just 111,000 net births (pictured is an auction in Sydney)

But Perth had the biggest increase of 18.6 per cent, bringing the average price to $718,560.

Western Australia had Australia’s fastest population growth at 3.3 percent, with 11,233 new interstate residents and 67,629 overseas migrants.

House prices in the capital are out of reach for an average income earner at $98,218, as even at their maximum borrowing capacity this person would only be able to buy a $639,000 house.

This person would also be in mortgage stress and have to pay more than 30 percent of their income on their home loan repayments, which would lead to steep budget cuts and leave them with less money to pay for the children.