Urban vs suburban: Brisbane’s great fertility divide

Analysis of Bureau of Statistics births data by Brisbane Times shows some of the state capital’s wealthiest neighbourhoods also have some of the lowest fertility rates. The Newstead-Bowen Hills area, which had the city’s highest median personal income in 2021 ($1405 per week), had the sixth-lowest fertility rate (0.73).

Differences in fertility rates across the city are also reflected in the age at which women are having babies. In the Brisbane Inner City region, the median age of mothers…