Falling birth rates blamed for business closing

The owner of a business that supported children learning through play has said it has closed in part due to falling birth rates.

Rising costs and limited opportunities to diversify also contributed to I Wanna Be Role Play Village in Romsey, Hampshire, shutting its doors after six years.

Katie Betteridge said her core customer base of children under six is in decline in the area.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the number of children under 15 in Hampshire had fallen by 2% in the past two decades.

During its final weekend, Betteridge said many former customers returned to say goodbye: "The older children came back, and we were looking at photos from when they were babies to how they are now. I've seen them grow up.

"The last few days have been overwhelming. I've had so many wonderful messages, and I have enough flowers to fill a florist's."

The role-play village and cafe was set up as an alternative to traditional indoor soft play centres.

It featured miniature settings, such as a veterinary clinic, supermarket and hairdresser's, where children could dress up and explore different roles.

But Betteridge said her customer base had fallen: "We are seeing a lower birth rate, we have done for the last few years.

"There are infant schools that are joining together; some schools are taking pre-schools into their schools to use the space.

"I know that there are places around that have done baby sessions, some of them offer them for free, like in the church hall, and they're not even getting people coming in."

Figures from the ONS showed children under 15 now make up 17.6% of Hampshire's population, down from 19.6% in 2004.

Nationally, fertility rates, which is the average number of children a woman is expected to have during her childbearing years, are at a record low.

Gareth Tucker, founder of children's activity centres Bounce Park in Didcot, Oxfordshire, and Play Park in Romsey, said the industry was struggling.

"Short-term effects are that we are seeing our numbers dropping," he said.

"But the longer-term effects of those low birth rates are that there aren't the younger children coming through behind them."

Researchers at the University of Southampton say the downward trend may continue.

Professor Brienna Perelli-Harris, head of the university's Department of Social Statistics and Demography, studies changes in family patterns.

She said reserach suggested attitudes towards having children are shifting among younger generations.

"About 15% of the youngest cohort, the Gen Z cohort, say that they definitely don't want to have children, and that's quite different from previous generations and previous studies that have been done," she said.

"Another 30% say that they probably don't or are uncertain about having kids."

Betteridge said she explored plans to turn the venue into a wider educational space, including hosting dementia patients and inviting older people from local care homes to interact with children.

"I wanted to create a space where different generations could come together through play, and it would mean I could use the space to its full potential," she said.

Those plans were ultimately unsuccessful after permission was refused by the landlord.

"I feel like my journey has been cut short, but sometimes it just isn't sustainable, no matter how hard I work," Betteridge said.