







































AUSTRALIAN POPULATION STUDIES  2022 | Volume 6 | Issue 1 | pages 15–30 

 

© Gray, Evans & Reimondos 2022. Published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial licence 3.0 Australia  
(CC BY-NC 3.0 AU). Journal website: www.australianpopulationstudies.org 

Having babies in times of uncertainty: 
first results of the impact of COVID-19 
on the number of babies born in 
Australia 

Edith Gray*  The Australian National University 

Ann Evans  The Australian National University 

Anna Reimondos  The Australian National University 

*Corresponding author. Email: Edith.Gray@anu.edu.au. Address: School of Demography, Research 

School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University, ACT 2601. 

Paper received 29 March 2022; accepted 9 July 2022; published 25 July 2022 

Abstract 

Background 

There has been considerable speculation on whether the COVID-19 pandemic had an effect on 

childbearing behaviour. Based on the experience of other social and economic disruptions, many 

researchers suggested that births would decline, while others argued that there could be a positive 

effect. 

Aims 

This paper considers the uncertainties associated with the impacts of COVID-19, particularly the 

relationship between the timing of COVID-19 events and subsequent births. 

Data and methods 

Publicly available birth data from birth registers, perinatal databases, and public hospital data were 

compiled and analysed to document changes in numbers and patterns of recorded births during 

2020 and 2021. 

Results 

Births declined in 2020 but then rebounded in 2021. Quarterly birth data from New South Wales and 

Western Australia suggest that the sharpest drop in conceptions occurred in the January-March 2020 

quarter. This coincided with the period when the pandemic was first taking off and when uncertainty 

about the future was at its highest. 

Conclusions 

The uncertainty associated with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic had a noticeable impact on 

births in 2020. It also shows, where data is available, that this impact was relatively short-lived, and 

births rebounded in 2021. We note that data is still sparse for Victoria, a state which was 

substantially more affected by lockdowns. 

Key words 

Fertility; births; COVID-19; Australia. 

  

   

http://www.australianpopulationstudies.org/
mailto:Edith.Gray@anu.edu.au


16 Gray, Evans & Reimondos Australian Population Studies 6 (1) 2022 

 

 

1. Introduction 

In early 2020 when news of the COVID-19 pandemic began spreading around the world there was a 

general consensus among demographers that this was going to have a major impact on childbearing 

behaviour. For people of childbearing age, COVID-19 would be the first time they would have 

experienced a global pandemic that caused widespread social and economic disruption. It is well 

known that during periods of high uncertainty and disruption, people will avoid making major life-

changing decisions such as having a child (Comolli & Vignoli 2021). However, the exact nature of the 

impact on childbearing behaviour would remain a matter of speculation until birth data became 

available. 

Compiling the evidence to demonstrate what effect the pandemic would have on births takes time. A 

recorded birth involves, an average pregnancy of 40 weeks between conception and birth, then 

several months or sometimes years, before birth records data are collated and distributed to 

statistical agencies. This translates to a lag of at least a year before being able to observe the impact 

of the pandemic on the number of births. 

Before birth data were available, researchers tried novel ways to predict the impact of the pandemic 

on births, including analysing Google search trends for terms related to pregnancies and newborns 

(Wilde et al. 2020). More traditional methods such as asking people directly about their future 

fertility intentions, and if they had changed their fertility intentions because of the pandemic, were 

also employed (Emery & Koops 2022; Luppi et al. 2020; Naya et al. 2022; Qu 2021). In Australia, there 

were also early attempts to predict births based on claim data for items on the Medicare Benefits 

Schedule (MBS) related to antenatal visits (Moaven & Brown 2021). 

Birth record data from 2020, and for some states and territories for 2021, is now becoming available 

in Australia. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Births, Australia report (2021) in 2020 

there were 294,369 registered births, representing a 3.7% decline from 2019. This represents a 

record low total fertility rate of 1.58 for 2020 (ABS 2021). While most of these births would have 

been conceived before the pandemic, births in the later part of 2020 would have been conceived 

during the early stages of the pandemic. The lower number of registered births in 2020 has been 

attributed to the effect of the pandemic on the number of births themselves, but also on delays in 

birth registration (ABS 2021). 

In this paper, we use recorded births from states and territories from 2018 to 2021 to analyse the 

early impact of COVID-19 on the pattern of births. We argue that the impact of the pandemic on 

childbearing decisions and on subsequent number of births, can be divided into two periods. The first 

period occurred during the early part of 2020 and represented the period of highest uncertainty 

when knowledge about the pandemic was still very limited. This period should have seen a universal 

fall in conceptions. The second period was marked by more diverse experiences at both the 

individual and state level. Depending on one’s own work and family circumstances, as well as 

geographical location there could have been both upwards and downwards pressures on fertility, 

which are harder to predict. 

  



Australian Population Studies 6 (1) 2022 Gray, Evans & Reimondos 17 

 

2. Covid-19 and fertility 

2.1 First stage of the pandemic: high uncertainty 

The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic led to an unprecedented level of uncertainty for much of 

the population in Australia, as well as around the world. Uncertainty is a ‘forward looking notion’ 

(Guetto et al. 2022) characterised by a lack of information regarding the future. While everything 

about the future is uncertain, people will generally use past experiences as well as engage in 

knowledge seeking to help them plan and formulate decisions. As Vignoli et al. (2020a) note in terms 

of decisions, the decision to have a child is one of the most important decisions people make in their 

lives and one that is always accompanied by a degree of fundamental uncertainty. Childless people 

experience the most uncertainty, or lack of information about how their future with children will be; 

however, parents also face uncertainty when deciding to have another child because no two children 

are the same (Vignoli et al. 2020b).  

In periods of uncertainty, people will tend to defer making major life choices which involve long-term 

commitments, such as starting a family or having more children (Vignoli et al. 2020a). Increased 

uncertainty of daily life and lack of job security has been posited as a reason for falling fertility rates 

in many high-income countries in recent years (Comolli & Vignoli 2021). Additionally, there are many 

specific historical examples of birth rates falling in times characterised by a high level of uncertainty 

such as global economic recessions (Sobotka et al. 2011; Matysiak et al. 2020). 

During the early months of 2020 there was limited understanding about the virus and how it was 

spread. People felt a lack of control of the situation and their own lives, and there was also a real fear 

for the future and a sense of threat for the well-being of oneself and one’s family (Maison, et al 

2021). As more information was accumulated about the virus and public health safety measures 

started being imposed, the level of uncertainty decreased. Uncertainty is commonly associated with 

anxiety, worry, and psychological distress (Afifi et al. 2012; Sweeny et al. 2015). Repeated cross-

sectional as well as longitudinal studies from overseas that tracked mental health during the 

different stages of the pandemic confirm that poor mental health and anxiety was highest in the first 

few months of March and April but then, on average recovered (Aknin et al. 2021; Daly & Robinson 

2021, 2022). In Australia, a longitudinal survey of mental health conducted during three periods 

between May and October 2020 also found that anxiety and depressive symptoms were highest in 

the earliest period of May 2020 (O’Donnell et al. 2022). 

2.2 Second stage of the pandemic: adaptation and diverse experiences 

The timeline in Table 1 shows that the first few months of 2020 were the ones where uncertainty 

was at its highest. This uncertainty would have impacted most of the population, although the 

impact is correlated to personality traits and level of media consumption (Mertens et al. 2020). As 

the pandemic progressed, people’s experiences became more diverse and would have varied based 

on their geographic location, due to different state restrictions, and their personal situations. Some 

people may have decided that prolonged delays or reductions in their childbearing plans were 

unsustainable or unnecessary (Lindberg et al. 2021, p. 8). For some, the pandemic meant the loss of a 

job or reduced work hours, whereas for others their work hours may have increased. Large parts of 

the workforce were able to transition to working from home, whereas this was not possible in all 



18 Gray, Evans & Reimondos Australian Population Studies 6 (1) 2022 

 

 

sectors. Working from home may have been a positive experience increasing work-life balance for 

some, or it may have been a stressful experience (Yerkes et al. 2020). Similarly, depending on the age 

and number of children at home, some parents had to navigate home schooling. This diversity of 

experience makes it particularly difficult to ascribe definitive ‘effects’ of the pandemic. 

Table 1: Timeline of COVID-19 related events, January 2020 to March 2021 

Period Dates Events 

Jan-Mar 
2020 

January 11 China reports first death 

January 13  Thailand reports first case outside China 

January 23  Lockdown of Wuhan 

January 24  First European case confirmed in France 

January 25 First confirmed case in Australia 

Feb 11 Officially named coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 by WHO 

March 1 First COVID-19 death in Australia 

March 2  First case of community transmission in Australia 

March 8  Italy placed under quarantine measures 

March 11  WHO declares a pandemic 

March 10  Australia records its hundredth case 

March 12  Prime Minister announces first economic stimulus package 

March 15  NSW Government cancels events of more than 500 people 

March 18  
Federal government announced several measures such as social 
distancing (1.5 meters) and limitation on size of gatherings to be 
implemented by state governments. 

March 19  Australian borders closed to non-residents/citizens 

March 23  
National cabinet agrees pubs, gyms, cinemas, restaurants and cafes to 
close (except for delivery) 

March 27  
All returning residents required to spend two weeks in supervised 
quarantine 

Apr-Jun  
2020 

April 15  
JobKeeper payment legislation to support out-of-work Australians is 
passed 

April 26  
COVIDSafe app, designed to help with contract tracing, is released by 
the Federal Government 

April 20  Peak of first wave 

May 10  NSW government announces easing of some restrictions 

May 11  Victoria Government announces easing of some restrictions 

June 30  Victoria announces lockdown in several postcodes 

Jul-Sep  
2020 

July 7 Victoria in lockdown 

July 10  Victoria suggests people wear masks outside (not mandated) 

August 16  Victoria announces new lockdown measures including overnight curfew 

Oct-Dec  
2020 

October 26   Victoria’s second lockdown ends 

December 19  NSW imposes lockdown order in Northern beaches 

Jan-Mar 
2021 

January 9  Lockdown ends for Sydney northern beaches 

February 12-18  Victoria goes into snap lockdown. 

February 22  
Phase 1a vaccination rollout targeting 678,000 aged care and frontline 
health workers. 

March 22  Phase 1b vaccination rollout targeting 6 million Australians. 



Australian Population Studies 6 (1) 2022 Gray, Evans & Reimondos 19 

 

Table 2 outlines a number of potential upwards and downwards pressures on childbearing that the 

COVID-19 outbreak could have had in high-income countries. An increase in births could result from 

a variety of reasons including more shared time at home and reassessment of priorities. For example, 

working from home could encourage a re-evaluation of work-life balance and reduce postponement 

of having a child, or partners could have more opportunities for intimacy and sexual relations. On the 

other hand, increased relationship conflict and fewer opportunities to socialise outside the home 

could reduce sexual intercourse. Economic changes could also impact on childbearing decisions. For 

example, some families may have been able to increase their savings, whereas others suffered a loss 

of income. Reduced access to contraception and abortion services may lead to increased 

conceptions, whereas reduced access to assisted reproductive technology (ART) during lockdowns 

would decrease births. 

Table 2: Potential upwards and downwards pressures on fertility due to the pandemic 

Influence Effect on fertility  

Job loss and reduced work hours leading to lower opportunity cost of 
having children 

 Positive  

Less access to contraceptives and abortion clinics   Positive 

More time spent at home with partners leading to a strengthening of 
relationships and increased intimacy and frequency of sexual 
intercourse 

 Positive 

Increased gender equity in the home as men become more involved in 
household tasks 

 Positive 

Working from home increasing work-life balance   Positive 

Re-evaluation of life priorities and reduction in postponement  Positive 

Job losses and reduced working hours leading to loss of income and 
less ability to afford children 

Negative   

More time spent at home with partners leading to higher relationship 
tension or domestic violence 

Negative   

Decreased access to assisted-reproduction technology Negative  

Reduced ability to socialise outside the home leading to lower levels of 
dating or new relationship formation 

Negative  

Lockdowns and travel restrictions reducing ability to access informal 
childcare and social support 

Negative  

Increased stress due to home-schooling or home-childcare Negative  

Health concerns about COVID-19 and pregnancy as well as visitation 
restrictions in hospitals 

Negative  

Uncertainty about economic and societal future Negative   

Worsening mental health Negative  

Source: Adapted from Berrington et al. (2020) and Aasve et al. (2021) 

 

  



20 Gray, Evans & Reimondos Australian Population Studies 6 (1) 2022 

 

 

3. Data and methods 

3.1 Data 

Birth record data is now available in Australia for 2020 and 2021, allowing us to see what impact the 

early stages of the pandemic had on the number of births. For each state and territory we sourced 

publicly available data from birth registers, public health departments, as well as using data prepared 

by the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare (AIHW) and Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). 

There are three main sources of birth data: (1) registered births as counted by each state/territory’s 

registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, (2) births recorded in each state/territory’s perinatal data 

collection, (3) health department data on births in the public health system. Each source of data is 

briefly outlined below. 

Birth registrations 

The registration of a birth in Australia follows a two-step process involving notification by a hospital, 

followed by registration by the parent(s). Each state and territory in Australia has legislation requiring 

the responsible person, usually the chief executive of a hospital, a doctor or midwife, to notify the 

Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages of the birth of a child within a certain time frame. The time 

frame varies by jurisdiction. For example, in New South Wales it is within 21 days after the birth, 

whereas in Queensland it is after two working days (Victorian Law Reform Commission 2013). The 

parents are then provided with a birth registration form which must be signed and submitted to the 

Registrar within a certain time period. In most jurisdictions, the parent(s) have 60 days to register the 

birth, except the ACT where they have 6 months (ACT Legislation Register 2014). 

Data on number of births sourced from the state and territory registers are subject to delays which 

impacts on its usefulness in assessing trends over short periods of time. These delays may be due to 

parents not registering births within the required time frame, as well as processing delays by the 

Registrar offices. For example, the ABS (2021) notes that processing delays following the second 

COVID-19 wave in Victoria led to lower numbers of birth registrations being processed and reported 

in December 2020. Similarly, in NSW a backlog of birth registrations was processed in 2018 leading to 

an unusually high number of births being reported for 2018 compared to 2017 and 2019 (ABS 2021). 

Perinatal data  

The other major source of data on births in Australia is the perinatal data collection. When a birth 

occurs, a midwife or attending health professional collects information about the maternal 

characteristics, birth and neonatal outcomes and forwards this to the relevant health department 

and this forms the basis of the state/territory’s perinatal dataset. Perinatal data is usually collected 

and reported for the purpose of monitoring public health rather than measuring fertility (Wilson 

2017).  

Public hospital data 

In an effort to provide greater accountability on the performance of their public hospitals, a number 

of states and territories also publish regular reports outlining key metrics on the quality and 

effectiveness of their public health systems, including measures such as average waiting times at 



Australian Population Studies 6 (1) 2022 Gray, Evans & Reimondos 21 

 

Emergency Departments. In some cases, the number of babies born in public hospitals is also 

reported. In Australia, 96.7% of women give birth in hospitals, and most of those do so in public 

hospitals (AIHW 2022a), so data on births in public hospitals encompasses a large proportion of all 

births. For example, in New South Wales in 2019, 73% of all women giving birth did so in a public 

hospital, and in 2020 this was largely unchanged at 74% (AIHW 2022a).  

Individual state/territory data and national datasets 

While each state/territory has its own vital statistics registrar, and its own perinatal data collection, 

they vary in their approach to making this data publicly available. For example, every month the 

Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria publishes how many births were registered in the 

previous month. In some other states no such data is published in a timely manner. 

However, for both registry and perinatal data all states/territories forward this to the Australian 

Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), respectively. 

These organisations then collate the data into national datasets. Each state and territory registrar 

provides birth register data electronically to the ABS on a monthly basis. The ABS then publishes 

these data on a preliminary basis five to six months after the reference period in its National, State 

and Territory Population report, and publishes a revised version 21 months after the end of the 

financial year (ABS 2021). Registered birth data are also published around a year after the reference 

year in the Births, Australia publication which is the main source also of fertility estimates such as the 

Total Fertility Rate. 

Similarly, perinatal data from each state/territory is collated into the National Perinatal Data 

Collection by the AIHW (AIHW 2022b). These data are published in the AIHW Mothers and Babies 

report two years after the reference period. For example, the Mothers and Babies report published 

in 2022 refers to births that occurred in 2020. 

2.2 Methods 

For each state and territory we compiled annual data on number of births recorded from 2018-2021, 

or the latest available year, using this time-series to examine the impact of COVID-19. We then used 

quarterly data from New South Wales and Western Australia, as these are available up to and 

including the first quarter of 2022, to examine in more detail how the number of conceptions and 

subsequent births changed during the early stages of the pandemic. It is important to note that these 

data relate to live births but they contain no information on the characteristics of mothers. It is 

therefore not possible to calculate additional indicators such as age-specific fertility rates or the total 

fertility rate. 

3. Results 

Table 3 shows the number of births reported in 2018 to 2021 or the latest available year for each 

state/territory based on different sources. For each source of data the table indicates whether the 

information is from perinatal data or public hospital data (based on year of occurrence), or registry 

data (based on year of registration). 

  



22 Gray, Evans & Reimondos Australian Population Studies 6 (1) 2022 

 

 

Table 3: Number of births by year, state and data source, 2019-2021 

State/   No. of births Change in births (%) 

Territory Data source Type 2018 2019 2020 2021 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 

NSW 

AIHW (2020,2021,2022a) 
Occurrence- 

Perinatal 
94,942 95,096 92,539  0.2 -2.7  

ABS (2021) Registration 105,463 96,909 93,579  -8.1 -3.4  

ABS (2022) Registration 98,626 98,678 94,822 101,333 0.1 -3.9 6.9 

NSW Health (2022) 
Occurrence- 

Perinatal 
95,552 95,133 92,541  -0.4 -2.8  

NSW, Bureau of Health 
Information (2022) 

Occurrence- 
Public hosp. 

72,497 72,123 70,252 74,185 -0.5 -2.6 5.6 

VIC 

Births, Deaths and 
Marriages Victoria (2022) 

Registration 79,726 79,597 74,620 76,410 -0.2 -6.3 2.4 

Births, Deaths and 
Marriages Vic (2022)* 

Registration 79,726 79,597 75,018 76,822 -0.2 -5.8 2.4 

CCOPMM (2022)+ 
Occurrence- 

Perinatal  
78,521 78,954 76,990  0.5 -2.5  

AIHW (2020,2021,2022a) 
Occurrence- 

Perinatal 
78,233 79,344 77,380P  1.4 -2.5  

ABS (2021) Registration 78,488 77,220 73,543  -1.6 -4.8  

ABS (2022) Registration 77,512 77,052 72,159 75,365 -0.6 -6.4 4.4 

QLD 

Queensland Government 
(2022)  

Registration 62,248 62,184 59,914 64,673 -0.1 -3.7 7.9 

Queensland Health (2021) 
Occurrence– 

Perinatal  
60,503 60,443 59,603  -0.1 -1.4  

AIHW (2020,2021,2022a) 
Occurrence- 

Perinatal  
60,120 60,431 59,584  0.5 -1.4  

ABS (2021) Registration 61,931 61,735 59,490  -0.3 -3.6  

ABS (2022) Registration 61,076 61,054 59,297 64,112 -0.03 -2.9 8.2 

WA 

Department of Justice 
(2022) 

Registration 33,459 33,754 32,677 34,300 0.9 -3.2 5.0 

Department of Health 
(2022) 

Occurrence- 
Perinatal 

33,204 33,147 32,027 34,476 -0.2 -3.4 7.6 

AIHW (2020,2021,2022a) 
Occurrence- 

Perinatal 
33,204 33,368 32,255  0.5 -3.3  

ABS (2021) Registration 33,257 33,539 32,426  0.8 -3.3  

ABS (2022) Registration 33,442 33,427 32,563 34,039 0.0 -2.6 4.5 

SA 

AIHW (2020,2020,2022a) 
Occurrence- 

Perinatal  
19,199 19,173 18,738  -0.1 -2.3  

ABS (2021) Registration 19,113 19,490 18,526  2.0 -4.9  

ABS (2022) Registration 18,968 18,957 18,450 19,757 -0.1 -2.7 7.1 

TAS 

Tasmanian Government 
(2022) 

Registration 5,570 5,835 5,850 6,365 4.8 0.3 8.8 

AIHW (2020,2021,2022a) 
Occurrence- 

Perinatal  
5,480 5,736 5,637  4.7 -1.7  

ABS (2021) Registration 5,547 5,741 5,780  3.5 0.7  

ABS (2022) Registration 5,412 5,648 5,606 6,044 4.4 -0.7 7.8 

 

  



Australian Population Studies 6 (1) 2022 Gray, Evans & Reimondos 23 

 

Table 3 continued 

State/   No. of births Change in births (%) 

Territory Data source Type 2018 2019 2020 2021 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 

ACT 

AIHW (2020,2021,2022a) Occurrence- 
Perinatal  

5,994 6,314 6,147  5.3 -2.6  

ABS (2021) Registration 5,374 5,520 5,368  2.7 -2.8  

ABS (2022) Registration 5,300 5,522 5,240 5,543 4.2 -5.1 5.8 

ACT Health (2022) Occurrence- 
Public hosp. 

5,055 5,151 5,110 5,293 1.9 -0.8 3.6 

NT 

AIHW (2020,2021,2022a) Occurrence 
-Perinatal  

3,730 3,592 3,688  -3.7 2.7  

ABS (2021) Registration 4,050 3,658 3,752  -9.7 2.6  

ABS (2022) Registration 3,763 3,595 3,690 3,785 -4.5 2.6 2.3 

Note: + Data refer to adjusted live births and excludes terminations of pregnancy for congenital anomalies or for maternal 
psychosocial indications. P Data for Victoria in 2021 published by AIHW (2022a) is preliminary and may be subject to 
revision. * Discrepancy in Victorian registration data when registered births by month are summed compared to their data 
annual data. 

For New South Wales (NSW), the trend for 2018-2019 differs substantially across the sources. AIHW 

and ABS population estimates suggest a small increase in births between 2018 and 2019, whereas 

ABS (2021) births data based on registered births shows a substantial decline. This is due to a 

substantial backlog of births being processed by the NSW register in 2018 (ABS 2021). For 2019-2020, 

there is a decline of between -2.6% to -3.9% in births. Both birth register data and public hospital 

data suggest a rebound in 2021 of 6.9 to 5.6% respectively.  

For Victoria (VIC), between 2018 and 2019 according to most sources there was a small trend 

downwards. The drop in births in Victoria in 2020, was between -2.5% and -6.4% depending on the 

source. The largest drops are those recorded for registered births so this indicates that it may be due 

in large part to delays in registration due to the Victorian lockdowns. In 2020-2021 registered births 

increased between 2.4% to 4.4%. 

For Queensland (QLD), again we see a small trend downwards in the number of births between 2018 

and 2019, followed by a decline between 2019-2020 of between -1.4% and -3.7%. However 

registered births in 2021 increased by 7.9-8.2%. Western Australia (WA) data suggests that births 

may have been increasing already between 2018-19, but 2020 saw a decline of between -2.6% to -

3.4%. Register and midwife data shows a rebound of 4.5% to 7.6% in 2021. 

For South Australia (SA), the decline in 2020 is estimated at -2.7% to -4.9%, again followed by a 

rebound. For the smaller States and Territories, the pattern is less clear. Tasmanian (TAS) and 

Australian Capital Territory (ACT) both had increasing births in 2019. For Tasmania, the birth 

registration data as provided by the Tasmanian Government suggests that births continued to 

increase in 2020, however, at a slower pace. In 2021, registered births increased by 7.8-8.8%. The 

Australian Capital Territory registered declines of -0.5% to -5.1% in 2020, whereas in the Northern 

Territory (NT), births increased in 2020. 

To better understand how patterns of childbearing decision making may have changed across the 

different stages of the pandemic, we use quarterly birth data. Figure 1 presents the actual estimated 

quarterly conceptions (leading to births) for NSW and WA. NSW data come from the NSW Bureau of 



24 Gray, Evans & Reimondos Australian Population Studies 6 (1) 2022 

 

 

Health Information, which publishes quarterly data regarding babies born in NSW public hospitals 

using admitted patient data. The latest available quarter is January-March 2022 quarter. Western 

Australia data come from the Midwives Notification System as published by the Department of 

Health WA. The number of conceptions leading to live births are based on backdating births. For 

example, conceptions in January-March lead to births in October-December of that year. The data is 

indexed on the first quarter available for each state.  

While quarterly data is also available for registered births, we prefer to use perinatal and public 

hospital data due to the registration delays in the register data which may lead to an inaccurate 

portrayal of the trends over time (Wilson 2017). With register data we are unable to tell if a decline 

in registered births in one quarter is due to a decline in births, or to decline in registrations (for 

example due to lockdowns). With the perinatal data and public hospital data which record births at 

time of occurrence, we have more confidence that any temporal trends observed represent actual 

trends in the number of births. 

Both states display a similar pattern. Conceptions in 2019 were generally lower than conceptions in 

2018. Due to the seasonal pattern of births in Australia, births tend to be lower in December overall 

(Wilson, et al. 2020). However, in both the NSW public hospital data and WA perinatal data there is a 

distinct sharp drop in conceptions in January-March 2020. Following this, there is an increase in 

conceptions. 

 

 

Figure 1: Conceptions by quarter, NSW and WA, 2018-2021 

Source: NSW Bureau of Health Information 2022, WA Department of Health 2022 

 

  



Australian Population Studies 6 (1) 2022 Gray, Evans & Reimondos 25 

 

4. Discussion 

In 2020, the number of babies born in Australia dropped significantly compared to 2019 in nearly 

every state and territory. This pattern can be seen across a number of different sources of data, 

including birth registrations as well as perinatal data and public hospital data. While the number of 

births had been trending downward in recent years, 2020 was a clear disjunction. While most of the 

births in 2020 would have been conceived in pre-pandemic times, babies born in the last few months 

of 2020 would have been conceived in the early months of 2020.  

Our analysis of quarterly data available for New South Wales and Western Australia, confirms that 

the large drop in 2020 can be attributed in particular to a reduction of births in the last quarter of 

2020. In 2021, the data indicated a significant recuperation starting as early as the first quarter of 

2021.   Based on the literature on uncertainty and fertility, as well as evidence from surveys tracking 

the pattern of mental health during the pandemic, we suggest that the drop in births in the October-

December quarter of 2020, corresponding to conceptions in January-March 2020 was related to the 

unprecedented uncertainty about the future that people felt during this time. As more became 

known about the virus, the immediate level of anxiety lessened and childbearing plans were revisited 

again.  

While we suggest that the decline in the number of births in 2020 was due to the uncertainty of the 

early stages of the pandemic, another possibility could be that there were fewer women to give birth 

in the population at that time due to a decline in immigration. 

Every quarter the ABS publishes estimates of the resident population of Australia. Estimates for 2019 

to 2021 have recently been rebased based on the 2021 Census of the population. At 30th June 2019, 

there were an estimated 6.026 million women aged 15-49 in Australia. By 30th June 2020, this had 

increased slightly to 6.048, and a year later it had fallen to 5.977 (ABS 2022). However, there were 

large differences in female population numbers by age group as well as by state. In particular, the 

number of women aged 20-24 age is estimated to have declined from 846,908 in 2019 to 786,274 in 

2021.  

The early 20s is a key age for students and travellers to migrate temporarily to Australia for study or 

work. While the estimated resident population numbers exclude overseas visitors who are in 

Australia for less than 12 months over a 16-month period, many young people on temporary visas for 

studying or working holidays stay for 12 months or longer. So the decline in the number of women in 

this age group could perhaps be explained by the travel restrictions preventing the usual temporary 

migration of young women. Women on temporary visas have relatively low fertility rates (McDonald 

2021) therefore we do not believe that the drop in births in 2020 was due to any large degree to 

fewer women in the population. 

While the focus on this paper has been on number of births, it is important to understand how 

fertility measures such as Total Fertility Rate (TFR) may have been affected by changes in the number 

of births as well as the number of women, or the population at risk of giving birth. The Total Fertility 

Rate is calculated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and is reported by calendar year (ABS 2021) 

as well as by financial year (ABS 2022). The most recently published TFR of 1.58 for 2020 was 

calculated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics using registered births and the estimated number of 



26 Gray, Evans & Reimondos Australian Population Studies 6 (1) 2022 

 

 

resident women projected in 2020 based on the 2016 Census.  If the TFR was calculated using the 

same number of registered births but using the more recently available estimates of resident women 

rebased on 2021 Census the TFR is slightly higher at around 1.59. 

In any average year, the TFR of Australia can be thought of as being slightly underestimated due to 

the fact that included in the denominator is young women on extended temporary visits to Australia 

for work or study. With some of this population removed due to the pandemic, this had a small 

effect on increasing the TFR.  This effect can also be observed to some degree by comparing the TFR 

of calendar and financial years. In most years the calendar year TFR and the financial year TFR are 

closely aligned and in pre-pandemic years they followed the same trend. However, while the 

calendar year TFR for 2020 was 1.58 (ABS 2021), the TFR for 2019-20 (covering 1st July 2019 to 30th 

June 2020), which would include babies conceived pre-pandemic was 1.62 (ABS 2022). The TFR for 

2020-21, which would be primarily babies conceived after the pandemic began, was higher at 1.63 

(ABS 2022). This is likely because the 2020-21 includes both the large dip of births but then the large 

increase in mid-2021, and because there were fewer resident women as a result of border closures 

leading to a lower denominator. 

5. Conclusions 

Using recorded birth data from birth registers as well as perinatal and public hospital data we 

observe that in Australia births declined significantly in most states and territories in 2020, followed 

by a rebound in 2021. This pattern was found across a number of different types of birth data, and 

therefore not due simply to delays in registration. Analysis of public health data, and perinatal data 

for Western Australia and New South Wales indicates that the 2020 decline appears to have been 

primarily due to a significant reduction in births in the later part of the year. This corresponds to 

births conceived during the first stage of the pandemic. This was a period of high uncertainty when, 

as predicted by the literature on uncertainty and fertility, people avoided making important 

childbearing decisions.  

As the pandemic progressed, people’s experiences became more diverse and it becomes more 

difficult to predict the direction that fertility would take. The situation across different parts of 

Australia became more heterogeneous. Different states imposed lockdown orders of varying 

severity, and as case numbers peaked unevenly across the country, people’s experiences of the 

pandemic, therefore, became more diverse in the later stages and depended on where they lived as 

well as what their job and family situation was. There are a number of possible upwards and 

downwards pressures that could have occurred, but based on the quarterly data available for New 

South Wales and Western Australia it appears that for a significant part of the population, the 

possible upwards pressures outweighed any negative pressures as the pandemic progressed, leading 

to at least a resumption in previously postponed childbearing plans. 

Was the drop in births in late 2020, followed by a rebound a universal experience across Australia, as 

well as in other high-income countries? It is likely that the uncertainty of the first few months of the 

pandemic would be mediated by individual factors such as level of media consumption, personal 

characteristics, including traits such as intolerance of uncertainty (Mertens et al. 2020), but also by 

contextual factors including the response of the different state and national governments to the 



Australian Population Studies 6 (1) 2022 Gray, Evans & Reimondos 27 

 

pandemic. Unfortunately, apart from register data no other sources of birth record data are available 

yet for Victoria which arguably experienced the greatest level of disruption of all the jurisdictions as a 

result of the pandemic. It is possible that the pattern of conceptions and births in Victoria will reveal 

a different trend to that observed in New South Wales and Western Australia. For the ACT, quarterly 

data available up to July-September 2021 did not show a significant dip.  

The pattern observed in Australia is very similar to that observed in many other countries. For 

example, in the United States there is a similar pattern of a sharp drop in births in late 2020, 

corresponding to conceptions in early 2020 (Morse 2021). Analysis of monthly birth data tracked 

between November 2020 and January 2021 across 22 highly developed countries by Sobotka et al. 

(2021) also showed a significant decline in births in most countries in the later part of 2020. 

However, other countries appeared not to have followed this pattern. In Europe, birth rates declined 

from November 2020 in Southern Europe, Austria and Belgium, but no effect was found in the Nordic 

countries (Aassve et al. 2021). This points to the importance of the social context in mediating the 

effect of pandemic uncertainty on childbearing. Countries with strong welfare systems to act as 

safety nets may have led to lower levels of uncertainty for their populations (Gassen et al. 2022). 

While the birth data allows us to see the change in childbearing behaviour at the population level, 

the currently available data also does not allow us to analyse how childbearing decisions and 

behaviour may have changed during the pandemic for different groups of the population. We will 

have to wait for more data to become available, including monthly birth data, as well as survey data 

to understand how childbearing patterns were affected according to people’s geographic location, 

age, parity, occupation and work experience. The current data may hide counterbalancing effects 

with some segments of the population more likely to have children, whereas others may have 

abandoned all childbearing plans.  

As more data become available, it will be interesting to observe whether the widespread lockdowns 

experienced during the 2021 had further negative impact on births. Questions abound on whether 

Australia’s trending decline in fertility rates will continue and how the changing nature of work, 

including working from home, will affect childbearing in the future. 

Key messages 

• Birth data from a variety of sources, including registry data, perinatal and public hospital data 

were analysed to see the impact of the COVID-19 on number of births. 

• Births declined in 2020 but then rebounded in 2021. 

• Quarterly birth data from NSW and WA suggest that January-March 2020 was the period with 

the sharpest drop in conceptions. This coincides with the highest period of uncertainty. 

References 

Aassve, A., Cavalli, N., Mencarini, L., Plach, S., & Livi Bacci, M. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic and human 

fertility. Science, 369(6502), 370-371. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abc9520.  

Aassve, A., Cavalli, N., Mencarini, L., Plach, S., & Sanders, S. (2021). Early assessment of the relationship 

between the COVID-19 pandemic and births in high-income countries. Proceedings of the 

National Academy of Sciences, 118(36). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2105709118.  

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abc9520
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2105709118


28 Gray, Evans & Reimondos Australian Population Studies 6 (1) 2022 

 

 

ACT Health (2022). ACT Public Health Services Quarterly Performance Report. 

https://health.act.gov.au/about-our-health-system/act-public-health-services-quarterly-

performance-report  

ACT Legislation Register (2014). Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment Act 2014. ACT 

Government. https://www.legislation.act.gov.au/a/2014-8/  

Afifi, W. A., Felix, E. D., & Afifi, T. D. (2012). The impact of uncertainty and communal coping on mental 

health following natural disasters. Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 25(3), 329-347. 

https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2011.603048  

Aknin, L. B., De Neve, J. E., Dunn, E. W., Fancourt, D. E., Goldberg, E., Helliwell, J. F., ... & Ben Amor, Y. 

(2021). Mental health during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: A review and 

recommendations for moving forward. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 

17456916211029964. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916211029964  

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021). Births, Australia 2020. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra. 

https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/births-australia/2020.  

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2022). National, State and Territory Population, December 2021. 

Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra. 

https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/national-state-and-territory-

population/latest-release#states-and-territories. Accessed 29 June 2022. 

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2020). Australia’s Mothers and Babies 2018 – in brief. Data 

tables: Australia’s mothers and babies 2018- in brief supplementary tables. Table 1.1. 

https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mothers-babies/australias-mothers-and-babies-2018-in-

brief/data  

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2021). Australia’s Mothers and Babies 2019. Data tables: 

National Perinatal Data Collection annual update 2019. Table 1.1. 

https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mothers-babies/australias-mothers-babies/data  

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2022a). Australia’s Mothers and Babies 2020. Data tables: 

National Perinatal Data Collection annual update 2020. Table 1.1. 

https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mothers-babies/australias-mothers-babies/data  

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2022b). National Perinatal Data Collection 

https://www.aihw.gov.au/about-our-data/our-data-collections/national-perinatal-data-collection  

Berrington, A., Ellison, J., Kuang, B., Vasireddy, S., & Kulu, H. (2021). Scenario‐based fertility projections 

incorporating impacts of COVID‐19. Population, Space and Place, e2546. 

https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2546.  

Berrington, A., Ellison, J., Kuang, B., Vasireddy, S., & Kulu, H. (2022). What is the likely impact of Covid-19 

on fertility in the UK?. Policy Briefing 66. ESRC Centre for Population Change. 

https://www.cpc.ac.uk/docs/2022_PB66_What_is_the_likely_impact_of_COVID19_on_fertility_i

n_the_UK.pdf.  

CCOPMM (Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity) (2021). Victoria’s 

Mothers Babies and Children 2020 report and presentations. Supplementary Tables- Births 

https://www.safercare.vic.gov.au/publications/victorias-mothers-babies-and-children-2020-

report-and-presentations. Accessed 28 June 2022 

Comolli, C. L., & Vignoli, D. (2021). Spreading uncertainty, shrinking birth rates: A natural experiment for 

Italy. European Sociological Review. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcab001.  

Daly, M., & Robinson, E. (2021). Psychological distress and adaptation to the COVID-19 crisis in the United 

States. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 136, 603-609. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.10.035.  

Daly, M., & Robinson, E. (2022). Depression and anxiety during COVID-19. The Lancet, 399(10324), 518. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00187-8  

https://health.act.gov.au/about-our-health-system/act-public-health-services-quarterly-performance-report
https://health.act.gov.au/about-our-health-system/act-public-health-services-quarterly-performance-report
https://www.legislation.act.gov.au/a/2014-8/
https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2011.603048
https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916211029964
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/births-australia/2020
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/national-state-and-territory-population/latest-release#states-and-territories
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/national-state-and-territory-population/latest-release#states-and-territories
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mothers-babies/australias-mothers-and-babies-2018-in-brief/data
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mothers-babies/australias-mothers-and-babies-2018-in-brief/data
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mothers-babies/australias-mothers-babies/data
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mothers-babies/australias-mothers-babies/data
https://www.aihw.gov.au/about-our-data/our-data-collections/national-perinatal-data-collection
https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2546
https://www.cpc.ac.uk/docs/2022_PB66_What_is_the_likely_impact_of_COVID19_on_fertility_in_the_UK.pdf
https://www.cpc.ac.uk/docs/2022_PB66_What_is_the_likely_impact_of_COVID19_on_fertility_in_the_UK.pdf
https://www.safercare.vic.gov.au/publications/victorias-mothers-babies-and-children-2020-report-and-presentations
https://www.safercare.vic.gov.au/publications/victorias-mothers-babies-and-children-2020-report-and-presentations
https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcab001
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.10.035
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00187-8


Australian Population Studies 6 (1) 2022 Gray, Evans & Reimondos 29 

 

Department of Health, Western Australia (2022). Mothers and Babies, Western Australia. Summary birth 

data: Graphs and tables for last 3 months. https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Reports-and-

publications/Western-Australias-Mothers-and-Babies-summary-information. Data extracted 01 

February 2022 

Department of Justice, Western Australia. Statistics - births, deaths and marriages registered 1981-2021. 

https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-justice/the-registry-of-births-deaths-and-

marriages/statistics-births-deaths-and-marriages-registered#:~:text=Statistics%20-

%20births%2C%20deaths%20and%20marriages%20registered%20,of%20Name%2086%2C010%2

0%2019%20more%20rows%20. Accessed 2 February 2022 

Emery, T., & Koops, J. C. (2022). The impact of COVID-19 on fertility behaviour and intentions in a middle 

income country. Plos One, 17(1), e0261509. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261509.  

Gassen, N.S, Jokinen, J.C and Cuadrado, A. (2022). Marriage, Divorce, and birth trends. In Norlén, G., 

Randall, L., Sánchez Gassen, N., Tapia, C., Bogason, Á., Cuadrado, A., Heleniak, T., Jokinen, J.C., 

Karlsdóttir, A., Lundgren, A. and Moodie, J. (Eds.) State of the Nordic Region. Nordic Council of 

Ministers, Nordregio. http://doi.org/10.6027/R2022:2.1403-2503.  

Guetto, R., Bazzani, G., & Vignoli, D. (2022). Narratives of the future and fertility decision-making in 

uncertain times. An application to the COVID-19 pandemic. Vienna Yearbook of Population 

Research, 20, 1-38. https://doi.org/10.1553/populationyearbook2022.res1.6.  

Lindberg, L. D., Mueller, J., Kirstein, M., & VandeVusse, A. (2021). The Continuing Impacts of the COVID-19 

Pandemic in the United States: Findings from the 2021 Guttmacher Survey of Reproductive Health 

Experiences. New York: Guttmacher Institute. https://www.guttmacher.org/report/continuing-

impacts-covid-19-pandemic-findings-2021-guttmacher-survey-reproductive-health.  

Luppi, F., Arpino, B., & Rosina, A. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 on fertility plans in Italy, Germany, 

France, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Demographic Research, 43, 1399-1412. 

https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2020.43.47.  

Maison, D., Jaworska, D., Adamczyk, D., & Affeltowicz, D. (2021). The challenges arising from the COVID-

19 pandemic and the way people deal with them. A qualitative longitudinal study. PloS O ne, 

16(10), e0258133. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258133.  

Matysiak, A., Sobotka, T., & Vignoli, D. (2020). The great recession and fertility in Europe: A sub-national 

analysis. European Journal of Population. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-020-09556-y.  

McDonald, P. (2020). A projection of Australia’s future fertility rates. Centre for Population Research 

Paper. Canberra: Australian Government. https://population.gov.au/research/research-fertility.  

Mertens, G., Gerritsen, L., Duijndam, S., Salemink, E., & Engelhard, I. M. (2020). Fear of the coronavirus 

(COVID-19): Predictors in an online study conducted in March 2020. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 

74, 102258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102258.  

Moaven, L., & Brown, J. (2021). COVID‐19 “baby boom”. The Medical Journal of Australia, 214(8), 386-

386. https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.51010.  

Morse, A. (2021). Fewer babies born in December and January but number started to rise in March. 

United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/09/united-states-

births-declined-during-the-pandemic.html  

Naya, C. H., Saxbe, D. E., & Dunton, G. F. (2021). Early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on fertility 

preferences in the United States: an exploratory study. Fertility and sterility, 116(4), 1128-1138. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2021.05.092.  

NSW Health (2022). Mothers and Babies 2020. https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/hsnsw/Pages/mothers-

and-babies-2020.aspx. Accessed 28 June 2022 

O'Donnell, J., Cárdenas, D., Orazani, N., Evans, A., & Reynolds, K. J. (2022). The longitudinal effect of 

COVID-19 infections and lockdown on mental health and the protective effect of neighbourhood 

https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Reports-and-publications/Western-Australias-Mothers-and-Babies-summary-information
https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/Reports-and-publications/Western-Australias-Mothers-and-Babies-summary-information
https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-justice/the-registry-of-births-deaths-and-marriages/statistics-births-deaths-and-marriages-registered#:~:text=Statistics%20-%20births%2C%20deaths%20and%20marriages%20registered%20,of%20Name%2086%2C010%20%2019%20more%20rows%20
https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-justice/the-registry-of-births-deaths-and-marriages/statistics-births-deaths-and-marriages-registered#:~:text=Statistics%20-%20births%2C%20deaths%20and%20marriages%20registered%20,of%20Name%2086%2C010%20%2019%20more%20rows%20
https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-justice/the-registry-of-births-deaths-and-marriages/statistics-births-deaths-and-marriages-registered#:~:text=Statistics%20-%20births%2C%20deaths%20and%20marriages%20registered%20,of%20Name%2086%2C010%20%2019%20more%20rows%20
https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-justice/the-registry-of-births-deaths-and-marriages/statistics-births-deaths-and-marriages-registered#:~:text=Statistics%20-%20births%2C%20deaths%20and%20marriages%20registered%20,of%20Name%2086%2C010%20%2019%20more%20rows%20
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261509
http://doi.org/10.6027/R2022:2.1403-2503
https://doi.org/10.1553/populationyearbook2022.res1.6
https://www.guttmacher.org/report/continuing-impacts-covid-19-pandemic-findings-2021-guttmacher-survey-reproductive-health
https://www.guttmacher.org/report/continuing-impacts-covid-19-pandemic-findings-2021-guttmacher-survey-reproductive-health
https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2020.43.47
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258133
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-020-09556-y
https://population.gov.au/research/research-fertility
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102258
https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.51010
https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/09/united-states-births-declined-during-the-pandemic.html
https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/09/united-states-births-declined-during-the-pandemic.html
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2021.05.092
https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/hsnsw/Pages/mothers-and-babies-2020.aspx
https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/hsnsw/Pages/mothers-and-babies-2020.aspx


30 Gray, Evans & Reimondos Australian Population Studies 6 (1) 2022 

 

 

social relations. Social Science & Medicine, 297, 114821. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114821.  

Qu, L. (2021). Report No. 4: Impacts of COVID-19 on pregnancy and fertility intentions. Australian Institute 

of Family Studies. https://aifs.gov.au/publications/impacts-covid-19-pregnancy-and-fertility-

intentions.  

Queensland Government (2022). Life event Statistics. https://www.qld.gov.au/law/births-deaths-

marriages-and-divorces/data/life-event-statistics  

Queensland Health (2021). Queensland Perinatal Statistics 2020. 

https://www.health.qld.gov.au/hsu/peri/peri_2020/queensland-perinatal-statistics-2020  

Satici, B., Saricali, M., Satici, S. A., & Griffiths, M. D. (2020). Intolerance of uncertainty and mental 

wellbeing: Serial mediation by rumination and fear of COVID-19. International Journal of Mental 

Health and Addiction. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00305-0  

Sobotka, T., Jasilioniene, A., Galarza, A. A., Zeman, K., Nemeth, L., & Jdanov, D. (2021). Baby bust in the 

wake of the COVID-19 pandemic? First results from the new STFF data series. 

https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/mvy62/  

Sobotka, T., Skirbekk, V., & Philipov, D. (2011). Economic recession and fertility in the developed world. 

Population and Development Review, 37(2), 267–306. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-

4457.2011.00411.x.  

Sweeny, K., Andrews, S. E., Nelson, S. K., & Robbins, M. L. (2015). Waiting for a baby: Navigating 

uncertainty in recollections of trying to conceive. Social Science & Medicine, 141, 123-132. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.07.031.  

Tasmanian Government (2022). Births, Deaths, and Marriage. 

https://www.justice.tas.gov.au/bdm/statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2022 

Vignoli, D., Bazzani, G., Guetto, R., Minello, A., & Pirani, E. (2020a). Uncertainty and narratives of the 

future: A theoretical framework for contemporary fertility. In Schoen, R (Ed.) Analyzing 

Contemporary Fertility (pp. 25-47). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48519-

1_3.  

Vignoli, D., Guetto, R., Bazzani, G., Pirani, E., & Minello, A. (2020b). A reflection on economic uncertainty 

and fertility in Europe: The Narrative Framework. Genus, 76(1), 1-27. 

https://doi.org/10.1186/s41118-020-00094-3.  

Wilde, J., Chen, W., & Lohmann, S. (2020). COVID-19 and the future of US fertility: what can we learn from 

Google? IZA DP No. 13776 https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/13776/covid-19-and-the-future-

of-us-fertility-what-can-we-learn-from-google  

Wilson, T. (2017). Comparing alternative statistics on recent fertility trends in Australia. Journal of 

Population Research, 34(2), 119-133. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12546-016-9176-x.  

Wilson, T., McDonald, P., & Temple, J. (2020). The geographical patterns of birth seasonality in Australia. 

Demographic Research, 43, 1185-1198. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2020.43.40.  

Yerkes, M. A., André, S. C., Besamusca, J. W., Kruyen, P. M., Remery, C. L., van der Zwan, R., ... & Geurts, S. 

A. (2020). ‘Intelligent’ lockdown, intelligent effects? Results from a survey on gender (in)equality 

in paid work, the division of childcare and household work, and quality of life among parents in 

the Netherlands during the Covid-19 lockdown. PloS One, 15(11), e0242249. 

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242249.  

 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114821
https://aifs.gov.au/publications/impacts-covid-19-pregnancy-and-fertility-intentions
https://aifs.gov.au/publications/impacts-covid-19-pregnancy-and-fertility-intentions
https://www.qld.gov.au/law/births-deaths-marriages-and-divorces/data/life-event-statistics
https://www.qld.gov.au/law/births-deaths-marriages-and-divorces/data/life-event-statistics
https://www.health.qld.gov.au/hsu/peri/peri_2020/queensland-perinatal-statistics-2020
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00305-0
https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/mvy62/
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2011.00411.x
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2011.00411.x
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.07.031
https://www.justice.tas.gov.au/bdm/statistics
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48519-1_3
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48519-1_3
https://doi.org/10.1186/s41118-020-00094-3
https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/13776/covid-19-and-the-future-of-us-fertility-what-can-we-learn-from-google
https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/13776/covid-19-and-the-future-of-us-fertility-what-can-we-learn-from-google
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12546-016-9176-x
https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2020.43.40
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242249

