Variation in fertility between different types of local area

Trends in fertility at the national level have been described in a recent article in the Population Review series. This article examines variations in the pattern of fertility experienced in different kinds of area within England and Wales. For this purpose use is made of the new ONS classification of local authorities into 11 groups and 29 clusters of areas with similar socio-economic characteristics. The classification was developed from statistics collected in the 1991 Census of Population. Although proportions of residents aged 0-4, 5-14, and 25-44 were among the 37 Census variables used to define groups and clusters of similar areas, the analysis did not make direct use of any measure of fertility related to ages of women at childbirth.