The underlying population of Reading is actually falling

 

As more and more tower appartments go up, did you know that the underlying population of Reading is falling significantly ? 

The given figure for retaining a population is 2.1 births. (This means that every woman has to have 2.1 children to maintain the same population.). However, in 2017 the figure in Reading was 1.84, but has since dramatically fallen to 1.43 for 2022. For the UK as a whole the fertility rate was somewhat higher at 1.74 and in 2022 was 1.49. The population of Reading never married is also significantly higher than the national average at 45.5%, although marriage has less correlation with child rearing than ever.

There was seemingly no 'lockdown effect' with those boring endless days shacked up together resulting in an amorous population spike.

Yet the population of Reading grew by around 12% in the past decade, higher than the 6.3% national growth rate or the 7.5% rate for the South East. Wokingham grew even more, by 15%. Of course, much of this is people moving from other areas of the country, but the reality is that it is immigration that is accounting for this population growth, from medical staff to students to businesspeople to stay at home mothers and fathers.

Just over half the population identify as 'White British' (53.5%) and the fastest growing languages over the decade to 2021 were European - Romanian, Spanish, Italian and Portugese, although with the Brexit effect, this picture may already be out of date. It should be added that 66.5% of the population were born in the UK and 74.2% identify the UK as their nationality, with 66.8% holding a British passport.

Reading has a proud tradition of welcoming people from anywhere and everywhere.There was a reduction in the oldest immigrant communities from Ireland and the Caribbean - the Irish navies who built many of our canals, railways and roads, and the Bajans who operated our buses - as they integrate, move on or pass away.

With plans to build 10,000 new homes in central Reading alone, it is clear that everyone expects this trend to continue (see our story on Housing Development below). A clue as to why this is necessary is that nearly a third (28.5%) of the population of Reading live in one person households and 33.5% of bedrooms in the town are empty - significantly higher than the national average. House ownership at 50.4% has fallen over the past decade and is significantly below the national average of 61.3%.

However, it may surprise you to learnt hat only 33.4% of the housing in Reading are flats or apartments, although this has grown significantly from just 22.2% in a decade.

Local salaries of £42,280 for residents and £45,401 for local workers, are both higher than the national average but lower than the South-East average. Perhaps the most significant but unsurprising recent figure is that  the number of people working from home was 40% of the population (although the census was taken at the end of loackdown so this may see some decline). This has had significant impact for local businesses and resulted in many empty offices.

Overall, this is a picture of fewer children, more migration, more people living alone without cars, renting flats and working from home. 



Sources: ONS, Reading Borough Council