Something in the United Kingdom is fraying. It’s hard to pin down, but in the years following the pandemic, there has been a perception across the country that ‘things’ are persistently getting worse, and slowly, but surely, a muted retreat is taking place. The decline is not dramatic, nor is it grabbing any headlines. It’s quiet, domestic, deeply human—and perhaps in its own way, therefore uniquely British. Fewer people are having children, fewer people are purchasing their first home. Slowly, there has been a fade from our cultural life.
In the Britain of 2025, fewer people are getting married, and fewer are starting families. We are not just facing an economic downturn, we are looking on as a nation unravels.
