MEDIA COVERAGE
Baby boom suburbs - Inner-city parents give birth to new trend.
By MERCEDES FLOREZ.
THESE children are the fashionable face of inner-Sydney living, part
of a baby boom that has seen the number of under-fours in some suburbs
increase by 240 per cent.
Research reveals couples in more affluent suburbs, many of whom put
off having children until later in life, are responsible for the increase
in toddlers.
"Many suburbs are becoming more child-friendly but retain that cosmopolitan lifestyle that is so important to 30-somethings," Macquarie University urban geographer Robyn Dowling said.
"It's this group who are predominantly having children."
Areas such as Manly, Woollahra, Hunters Hill and Sydney City account for the biggest growth in the number of children aged under four.
The Sydney City Council area, which includes Pyrmont and Ultimo, topped the list, with a 239.8 per cent jump in the five years to the end of 2001.
The average growth for the metropolitan area was three per cent. There are 1213 under-fours living in the City area.
After an 18 per cent surge in toddlers, Hunters Hill now has 755 under-fours, while Manly and Woollahra each experienced a 15 per cent jump, with around 1500 pre-schoolers each.
PRD Nationwide research manager Zoe Heinzel, whose firm compiled the data, said cashed-up Generation X-ers were pushing up the baby growth rates.
"A lot of the middle-ring areas, such as Willoughby, Manly and Concord, specifically have an older age group profile," Ms Heinzel said.
30/03/2003 - Sunday Telegraph
