Fertility rate hits 26-year high

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The average number of children per woman in England and Wales has risen to 1.87, the highest rate since 1980, the figures from the Office of National Statistics showed.

The 2006 total fertility rate (TFR) is up from 1.80 in 2005, and is the fifth consecutive rise from a low of 1.63 in 2001.

The increase is greatest among older mothers, with the highest percentage rise in births seen among women in their late thirties.

There were 53.8 live births per 1,000 women aged 35-39 in 2006 - a 7% increase on the previous year.

The number of live births to women aged 40 and over has almost doubled in the last decade, from 12,103 in 1996 to 23,703 in 2006.

Overall, there were 669,531 live births in England and Wales in 2006, compared with 645,835 in 2005, an increase of 3.7%.

The number of children born has reached the highest level since 1993, when there were 673,476 live births.

Women in the West Midlands had the most children in England, with 1.96 children per woman, while the lowest rate was the North East, at 1.78 children.

Newham was the local authority with the most children per woman - 2.56 - while Westminster had the lowest rate at 1.12.