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Bio: Melinda Mills is a Professor of Demography and Population Health, Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science and Demographic Science Unit at NDPH and Nuffield College. Her work focuses on demographic change, combining multiple types of high-dimensional data and advanced statistical methods. In addition to others, she has held both an ERC Consolidator and ERC Advanced Grant, examining the intersection of social and genetic factors. She has served on No 10’s Data Science Advisory Group, as an advisor on SAGE (SPI-B), and as one of three special Advisors to the European Commissioner of the Economy. She is also a Trustee of the UK Biobank and on the Scientific Advisory Boards of Our Future Health, LifeLines, Health & Retirement Survey. She received an MBE in 2018 for her research contributions and an Honorary Doctorate in 2025 from the EUI for her work in sociogenomics. She also holds a part-time position at the Department of Economic, Econometrics & Finance, University of Groningen and Department of Genetics, University Medical Centre Groningen, Netherlands.
Abstract: Recent changes in the postponement of the timing and number of children across many countries has resulted in renewed interest in the underlying reasons, consequences and effectiveness of policy interventions related to fertility. Many are having their first child in their early 30s, with percentage of the population who remain childless now around 20% (born ~1965) in many Western European countries, with high levels of lifetime childlessness in East Asia (e.g., 28% (Japan); (35% Hong Kong), women born 1975). Recently, the UK has also reported the lowest total fertility rate for the last 80 years. But reproduction is a complex behavioural and biological trait influenced by socio-environmental and genetic factors. This talk brings together research in demography and genetics to explore contemporary fertility patterns. It first examines broader changes in the timing and number of children, the most recent ‘low fertility panic’, social determinants and effectiveness of various policy interventions. Linking whole population administrative register data with hospital records, the talk then demonstrates how lifetime fertility and health trajectories are strongly associated with mental-behavioural, substance use and metabolic disorders. Large-scale genetic association studies of reproductive traits are then explored in addition to their relationship with health and longevity.
