FOI Reference: FOI/2021/2902
You asked
Under the Freedom of Information Act I wish to request the following information:
- How many women of the ages 40 and above gave birth in England in 2020?
- What was the average age of father at birth in England in 2020?
- What was the average age of mother at birth in England in 2020?
We said
Thank you for your request.
The latest publication on births we have available is for 2019 and can be found in the following publication: Births in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk).
We have also published the following release based on provisional data using NHS Birth notifications, which may be of interest. However, please note, this does not provide parental characteristics: Provisional births in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
Births in England and Wales 2020 will provide annual summary statistics on live births and stillbirths, by sex, age of mother, whether inside marriage or civil partnership, percentage of non-UK-born mothers, birth rates and births by mothers' area of usual residence has a provisional publication date of 14 October 2021.
Birth characteristics 2020 will provide annual live births in England and Wales by sex, birth-weight, gestational age, ethnicity and month, maternities by place of birth and with multiple births, and stillbirths by age of parents and calendar quarter is also provisionally scheduled for release October/November 2021.
As such, the information you have requested is considered exempt under Section 22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, whereby information is exempt from release if there is a view to publish the information in the future. Furthermore, as a central government department and producer of official statistics, we need to have the freedom to be able to determine our own publication timetables. This is to allow us to deal with the necessary preparation, administration and context of publications. It would be unreasonable to consider disclosure when to do so would undermine our functions.
This exemption is subject to a public interest test. We recognise the desirability of information being freely available and this is considered by ONS when publication schedules are set in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics. The need for timely data must be balanced against the practicalities of applying statistical skill and judgement to produce the high quality, assured data needed to inform decision-making. If this balance is incorrectly applied, then we run the risk of decisions being based on inaccurate data which is arguably not in the public interest. This will have an impact on public trust in official statistics in a time when accuracy of official statistics is more important to the public than ever before.
If you have any further enquiries, please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.