What type of neighbourhood do YOU live in? Search tool reveals if it’s a nappy valley or an elderly enclave…

Find out what type of neighbourhood you live in with the Daily Mail’s extraordinarily detailed search tool.

Powered by population estimate data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), it reveals whether you live in a ‘nappy valley’ or elderly enclave.

Figures show that in Stamford Hill, a district within the London borough of Hackney, babies make up 3% of the population.

By comparison, the rate there is 50 times higher than in Durham City (0.06%) – the neighbourhood at the bottom of the table, which is swarming with students. 

Similarly low figures were logged in Piccadilly & Ancoats in Manchester (0.07%) and Leeds City Centre (0.12%).

When it comes to areas popular with the highest rates of over-65s, the top spot was the charming coastal village of East Preston & Rustington East in Arun at 53.3%.

This was followed by the seaside town of Sutton-on-Sea in East Lindsey (53.2%), with third place going to yet another picturesque seaside location, Barton on Sea in New Forest (52%).

Experts say nappy valleys are more likely to be home to a greater number of foreign-born residents and those aged late 20s to 30s – two demographic groups more likely to have children. 

Our map, which allows you to zoom into street level, plots the rate in all 7,265 middle super output areas (MSOA) – small pockets of the country made up of around 8,000 to 10,000 people.

As well as showing the percentage of the population that are babies and over-65, it breaks down the figures for all age-groups. 

It comes amid the looming threat of ‘underpopulation’, with fertility rates having sunk to their lowest levels since records began in the 1930s. Women in England and Wales, on average, now only have 1.44 children.

For a population to stay the same size without relying on immigration, nations must achieve a ‘replacement’ level fertility rate of 2.1.

Experts fear the freefalling trend will leave the country reliant on immigration to prop up the economy, with Britain otherwise left with too few younger people to work, pay tax and look after the elderly.

The figures on nappy valleys are based on mid-2024 population estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). 

Despite being coined ‘nappy valley’ because of their pram-infested streets loved by young, middle-class families, nowhere in Wandsworth, Battersea or Clapham ranked in the top 20.  

Professor Berkay Ozcan, a demographer at the New York University Abu Dhabi, told the Daily Mail: ‘Housing in nappy valleys accommodate early-stage families which are typically smaller, denser dwellings close to jobs and amenities.

‘They also tend to offer good-quality childcare, access to well-rated primary schools, green spaces and parks, and reliable transport links.

‘Neighbourhoods that combine young, diverse populations with high residential turnover – such as many parts of inner London – also tend to record more babies simply because the demographic base for childbearing is larger.’ 

When analysed on a local level, Professor Ozcan argues that the number of babies in an area often acts as a ‘leading economic indicator’. 

He said: ‘Fertility is closely tied to people’s expectations about the economy and family decisions respond early to perceived opportunities and constraints. 

‘A consistently low number of babies, or the steady outflow of young families, can in time change the character and quality of a place – influencing schools, services, and the broader age balance of communities. 

‘These effects may be subtle in the short term, but over time they shape a neighbourhood’s vitality and long-term economic resilience.’

John Ermisch, emeritus professor of family demography at Oxford University, said  the variation between areas is down to the differences in the average age of women in the area, alongside ethnic composition and educational make-up.

His previous research on the topic showed there is a strong association of higher fertility in areas with larger ethnic Pakistani populations, such as Luton, Bradford and Blackburn. 

Experts believe the falling fertility trend is partly down to women focusing on their education and careers and couples waiting to have children until later in life.

It coincides with the long-running trend seen throughout the world that when a nation becomes more prosperous, fertility rates typically fall. 

And studies show that areas where more of the population holds degree level education also tend to have fewer children. 

However mothers in London are more likely to have children later on in life than elsewhere in England and Wales, due to them delaying parenthood to establish careers while navigating high housing costs.

The birth rate for women aged between 40 and 44 in the capital beats all the other regions by some margin.

But the fertility rate has still been in freefall for more a decade, apart from a blip during 2021 put down to a mini baby ‘bounce’ by couples who put their family plans on hold at the start of the Covid pandemic. 

Lifestyle factors, like the rising prevalence of obesity in many countries, is also thought to be having a negative impact on fertility. 

The UK’s fragile economy and cost-of-living crisis is also putting people off having children, some believe, evidenced by abortion rates simultaneously spiking.

Neighbourhoods in the north of England featured most heavily in the areas with the fewest babies, primarily due to their ageing populations and limited inflows of younger adults.

These areas have experienced outward migration of people in their twenties and thirties, often towards larger labour markets in cities. 

Professor Ozcan said that as a result, even if the fertility rates of those who remain in these areas are comparable to others elsewhere, the total number of births per area is much lower due to the smaller base of people of childbearing age. 

When jobs are scarce or poorly paid, or when commuting links to major employment centres are weak, it becomes more difficult for both partners in a couple to remain in work while raising children. 

And a shortage of affordable childcare and early-years provision can make these problems worse. 

These areas also usually have relatively static housing markets dominated by older owner-occupiers, meaning there are few entry points for younger households. 

Across the whole of England and Wales in 2024, just over a third of newborn babies had mothers who were born outside the UK.

But the share exceeded 75% in parts of London considered settling spots for immigrants for generations. 

The UK is not alone in facing an uphill battle against declining birth rates, the  US is on track for a similar downward trajectory, researchers warned last year in the respected medical journal The Lancet.

Sharing their shock findings, the University of Washington team warned 97% of nations face the threat of under population by 2100. By then, half of all babies may be born in sub-Saharan Africa.

Longtime fertility campaigner Elon Musk previously joked he was ‘doing my best to help the under population crisis’, in a reference to him having reportedly had 14 children with four different women. 

He has said in the past: ‘People are going to have to revive the idea of having children as a kind of social duty, otherwise civilisation will just die.’

In May 2022 Musk claimed Japan, experiencing its own baby bust, could ‘flat-out disappear’ if its low birth rates continue to decline and that Italy ‘will have no people’ if the current trends persist.

The latest figures showing that the EU also experienced a plunge last year to an all-time low.

Double-digit percentage falls were recorded in Romania (13.9%), Poland (10.7%) and Czechia (10%).

Wealthy EU nations, including France and Germany, also saw significant drops.