Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at 2:30 pm on 2 October 2025.
Kenneth Gibson
Scottish National Party
2:30,
2 October 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, as part of the work of its ministerial population task force, what action it will undertake to support people to have larger families, should they want more children. (S6O-05019)
Kaukab Stewart
Scottish National Party
Our population strategy sets out our ambition that Scotland is the ideal place to raise a family, where people are enabled to have the number of children that they wish to have. It is not for Government to dictate or influence whether people should have children, which is, rightly, a matter for individuals. The ministerial population task force continues to consider fertility trends, and we are engaging with the United Kingdom Government on its parental leave and pay review to ensure that any new provision supports working families in Scotland.
Kenneth Gibson
Scottish National Party
Last year, Scotland’s total fertility rate fell to 1.25, which is the lowest since records began in 1855. Given that a population needs a fertility rate of 2.1 just to remain constant, that demographic decline will have profound consequences for us all. Does the Minister agree that that is an existential concern for Scotland? What policies does the Scottish Government believe can make a real difference in arresting and reversing that depressing trend? Please note that I am asking not about immigration but about the birth rate.
Kaukab Stewart
Scottish National Party
I share the member’s interesting views on our changing demographics. Falling birth rates are a trend across many high-income countries, with, as the member said, significant implications for our economies, communities and public services. We are committed to learning from other countries. In December 2024, the ministerial population task force considered potential international lessons from family-friendly policy interventions.
We are currently exploring next steps in the Scottish context, including scoping further research into the role of parental leave uptake on decisions to have children. From our 2022 attitudes to family formation research, we know that childcare is an important factor in people’s decision to have children. Through our addressing depopulation action plan, we are funding local authorities in depopulating areas in the Western Isles and in the north-west of the Highlands to scope and deliver, where possible, childcare interventions that support families to live and work there.
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