UK NEWS

1 IN 5 OF ALL BABIES IN UK BORN TO FOREIGN MOTHERS

DIVERSE: Changing population

Wednesday December 12,2007

By Martyn Brown

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(29)

ONE-fifth of births in Britain last year were to foreign-born mothers. Government statistics yesterday revealed that around 150,000 women had their babies here.

Soaring fertility rates in the UK are at their highest levels for more than 25 years, due to the number of women from overseas giving birth.

The highest birth rates were among Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi-born mothers, who accounted for five per cent of UK infants last year, with women from EU countries outside Britain and Ireland a further four per cent.

Sir Andrew Green, of MigrationWatch UK, claimed the projections were a warning that should be heeded by the Government. “They have consistently underestimated the scale of immigration. The burden is being born by maternity units and it is British mothers who are feeling the effects.”

Statistician Karen Dunnell said that 1.8 million foreign-born women of childbearing age arrived in Britain between 1996 and 2006, while 1.1 million similarly aged British females left the country.

She added that this would have led to a higher proportion of births to foreign women, and that higher birth rates among migrant females are also pushing up the population.

“We are seeing quite dynamic changes in the size of the population and the make-up of the population. It’s becoming increasingly diverse as more and more people come to the UK. We have a situation where for all women in the UK, fertility has been rising over the period since 2001.”

The countries with the highest fertility rates were Pakistan, with 4.7, Bangladesh, with 3.9, and India, with 2.3. An estimated two thirds of the increased population was due to immigrants arriving in the UK. The population is expected to rise to 65 million by 2016.

The population is also ageing at a record rate, the report found. The estimated number of people aged 85 and over has reached 1.2 million, an increase of six per cent since 2001. By 2031, that figure is projected to hit 2.9 million.

Overall, the report said that migration has been the “predominant driver of population change” in the UK over the past five years and has been responsible for an extra million residents since 2001.

YES

16.12.07, 7:24pm

i must be the immature one. people like elgar/tree have to run online to spout bigoted views because they are too scared to share thier contempt for 'foreigners' and all things 'not english' to the 'real world'. they sit around and mutter slurs under their breath as minorities walk by and then can't wait to get home and vent thier bigoted spleens online.

but i am the immature one, because i have never said anything malicious to any group of people on here, but instead i attack vile and divisive rhetoric designed to fuel bigotry and spread misinformation. i've never said anything on here i would be ashamed to say in public. i'm sure that is not the case with most of the xenophobes on this site.

so yes, i'd ask an adult, but i can't find any on here...

• Posted by: Vince • Report Comment

SPELLING ERROR

16.12.07, 1:23pm

Vince, I think you meant DIPPY - MAL ADJUSTED - thoughtless.

Ever heard of the Ostrich syndrome.
Ask an adult

• Posted by: JackDoff • Report Comment

ON IT...

14.12.07, 3:03pm

whatever it is that i am on, mr jackoff, it obviously makes me a more happy, well adjusted, and thoughtful person that mr elgar/tree, both of which can't string a decent argument together for love nor money.

(although, mr tree, i will give you a win by a nose over mr elgar, congrats!)

• Posted by: Vince • Report Comment

VINCE...I REPEAT

13.12.07, 7:46pm

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ON....

I WOULD LOVE SOME!

• Posted by: JackDoff • Report Comment

MUGGLES

13.12.07, 5:57pm

"I was wondering where all the bitter, resentful xenophobia had gone, and it's tucked away here!"

Afraid not; it's out there, all over the world.
For all recorded history governments have tried to install the idea of patriotism in their citizens, re-inforced by the works of great artists in national epics and all sorts of works too numerous to even begin to mention. Then, all of a sudden, some "enlightened" governments think that it will be a jolly idea to take down our borders and mix together all those people that for centuries we've been eager to keep away.
They then become surprised and irritated that people don't like these new ideas, that their hearts often rule their heads and that people cling to ideas of "homeland" and are not interested in the fact that the Arabs invented this or the Chinese invented that. They are dealing with far more powerful underlying emotions. They are fools not to have realised the fact.

• Posted by: gimleteye7 • Report Comment

ELGAR/TREE

13.12.07, 1:16pm

you continually avoid constructive arguments and rely on rhetoric which has no basis in anything. you continually show your ignorance of british history and culture, and an inability to engage with reasoned arguments that completely undermine your points.

what makes you qualified to 'represent' or 'defend' britain in any way?

• Posted by: Vince • Report Comment