In the heart of Cambridgeshire, from the market town of St Neots to the rural fringes of Huntingdonshire, a silent shift is underway. Birth rates are plummeting, early years settings are thinning out, and whole neighbourhoods are becoming what demographers are calling “baby deserts”.
Huntingdonshire’s fertility rate has fallen by a quarter over the past 15 years, dropping from 1.99 to 1.49. Once above the national average, it now lags behind. Villages like Stilton, Kimbolton, and Great Staughton are seeing only a handful of new births, with just 125 babies born across a population of over 18,000 people in 2022–23. The number of under-fours has dropped from 7.3% to 5.3% of the population, despite a 28% overall population growth since 1991 – driven largely by older age groups.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Local MP Ben Obese-Jecty attributes the decline to poor infrastructure and unaffordable housing: “You’re limiting people to working locally if villages don’t have decent transport or amenities. Young families are choosing not to stay.”
Schools Feel the Strain as Families Disappear
The impact is already being felt in classrooms. In St Neots, local midwife Lia Gray has noticed a clear decline. Speaking to The Telegraph:
There are definitely fewer babies and young children around compared to a few years ago.
In nearby Offord D’Arcy, the situation is no better. Sarah Armstrong, who runs Hartbeeps children’s playgroups, recalled how one of the local primary schools in St Neots used to run four classes per year – now it’s down to three. “Some village preschools have closed. Others are mixing year groups, like year fours and fives, because numbers are so low”.
The result? Teachers face bigger challenges, and children lose out on tailored education.
While cities have long seen families migrate in search of more space, affordability and support, this shift is happening earlier and more decisively. In Cambridgeshire’s countryside, the question is no longer just about cost—it’s about whether communities can survive without the next generation.
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