The huge salary Australians need to buy a house – so is it any wonder our birth rate is falling?

A couple needs a combined income of more than $200,000 to be able to afford a child and live comfortably as a renter in Greater Sydney or Greater Brisbane, a new study suggests.

New data from National Shelter shows how broken the current rental system is, as it tracks diverse Australians at different stages of their lives and their rental needs.

The problem is such that even a wealthy couple with a child earning $219,000 together still finds rents less affordable since the pandemic.

Greater Sydney requires this household to spend just 18 per cent of their income on rent, which leaves a reasonable amount for other living and parenting expenses, although it becomes cheaper if they move to the suburbs.

The problem is only exacerbated for low-income people or single people.

National Shelter spokesman John Engeler said renters across the country are under severe pressure as rent increases continue to outpace income growth amid historically low vacancy rates.

“The situation is particularly serious for low-income tenants who are increasingly forced to rent in the private sector due to the declining availability of social and affordable housing,” Mr Engeler said.

“A single retiree would have to spend 86 per cent of their income renting a median one-bedroom apartment in Sydney.”

Mr Engeler said this was “clearly unacceptable” and called on the Government to help solve the affordability crisis through social housing.

Over the past 12 months, rental affordability has fallen by 13 per cent in Perth, eight per cent in Adelaide, six per cent in Melbourne, five per cent in Sydney and four per cent in Brisbane.

Perth is now the least affordable capital, with a median weekly rent of $629 representing 31 per cent of the median income, followed closely by Sydney, where a median rent of $720 represents 30 per cent of the median income.

According to the report, 30 percent of income is the threshold when rents become unaffordable.

Separate data from PropTrack’s Rental Affordability Report revealed “Australia’s rental affordability is at its worst level on record”, with households earning the median income of $111,000 unable to afford allow only the smallest share of properties to be rented since 2008, when registrations began.

The rent crisis becomes a national problem

The impact of unaffordable rent could become a national problem, with higher costs, including rent, impacting the number of children families choose to have.

Australia’s falling birth rate could have significant consequences for family dynamics and could see middle children become increasingly rare.

Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in late October show the total fertility rate in 2023 has fallen to a record low of 1.5 babies per woman.

Demographer Liz Allen, a lecturer at the Australian National University, said the days of middle children are over, with couples having one or two children becoming the new norm.

She explained that this was because it was becoming increasingly difficult for couples to succeed financially.

“Even rent has become unaffordable in some areas, and Allens says job insecurity has also become a problem, with many young people and women forced to take casual or part-time jobs,” he said. she declared.

The decline in births can be attributed to the rising cost of living and the current economic climate, as this may impact the ability of young Australians to have children, KPMG said.

The data revealed that the birth rate across the country fell by 4.6 percent over the last year, making the 2023 birth rate the lowest since 2006.

In 2023, 289,100 babies will be born in Australia.

Terry Rawnsley, urban economist at KPMG, says low economic growth often leads to lower birth rates, but current cost-of-living pressures are having a particularly strong impact.

“Birth rates provide insight into long-term population growth as well as the current confidence of Australian families,” he said.

Sydney saw the most notable decline, with births falling by 8.6 percent. This was followed by Melbourne, down 7.3 per cent, Perth, down 6.0 per cent and Brisbane, down 4.3 per cent.

Canberra is the only capital not to experience a drop in births since 2019.

This increase has now rapidly declined as the current economic climate presents various challenges to Australian families.

“With current increases in living costs putting pressure on household finances, many Australians have decided to delay starting or expanding their families,” Rawnsley said.

“This combination of pandemic and rapid economic change explains the rise and then sharp decline in birth rates we have seen over the past four years.”