More than 1 in 4 babies born to migrant mothers
RECORD numbers of babies were born to immigrant mothers last year – and in some parts of the country it was as high as three children in four.
A steadily growing share of babies are born to mothers from overseas, official figures revealed yesterday.
In 2015, 27.5 per cent of births were born to mothers born outside Britain, up from 27 per cent in 2014.
At the start of the 1990s, the level was under 12 per cent. It had grown to 19.5 per cent in 2004 – the year Tony Blair’s government opened the gates to mass migration from Eastern Europe.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show there were 192,227 births to migrant mothers out of a total of 697,852 babies born last year in England and Wales. The total number of births rose by 2.5 per cent on the previous year.
Poland is the most common country of birth for new mothers born outside Britain – with 22,928. This was a seven-fold increase on the 3,403 children born to Polish mothers in 2005.
It was followed by Pakistan (17,342), India (13,780) and Romania (8,752).
Some 69,100 babies were born to mothers from the EU in 2015 – the fastest growing group. Some 52,900 babies were born to EU mothers in 2010.
But since 2010, there has been a fall in the number born to mothers from the Middle East, Africa and Asia – from 106,200 in 2010 to 99,700 last year. In some parts of the UK, 75 per cent of children were born
‘Hard to achieve effective integration’
to migrant mothers in 2015. In the East London borough of Newham, the proportion was 76.7 per cent, while in Brent, North-West London, it was 76.2 per cent.
Slough in Berkshire had the highest percentage outside London at 62 per cent followed by Luton with 56.4 per cent.
The rise in the number of babies with mothers born abroad has partly come because fertility rates among the rising numbers of immigrants are higher than those of British-born women.
Although fertility rates among foreignborn women fell in 2015, an immigrant woman could expect to have 2.08 children. For UK-born women, the rate was 1.76.
Elizabeth McLaren, a statistician at the ONS, said: ‘The rising percentage of births to women born outside the UK is largely due to foreign-born women making up an increasing share of the female population of childbearing age in England and Wales.’
Lord Green of Deddington, chairman of think-tank Migration-Watch, which campaigns for balanced migration, said: ‘It is hard to see how effective integration can be achieved in an area such as Newham with more than 75 per cent of its births down to foreign-born mothers. This illustrates the need to reduce current levels of immigration if integration is to be manageable.’
Separate figures show that one in eight of the UK population was born abroad, up from one in 11 in 2004. The non UK-born population rose from 8.3million to 8.6million between 2014 and 2015, said the ONS. Statistics also showed that net migration totalled 327,000 in the year to March – before Britain to voted to leave the EU.
This is down slightly on the record 336,000 recorded a year earlier and the 330,000 tally announced this March, which covered the year to December. Despite the dip, net migration – the difference between those leaving the UK and those arriving – is more than three times the Government’s target.
It shines a spotlight on Theresa May’s long-standing commitment to cut the figure to below 100,000. The number of migrants coming to study fell by almost 30,000 to 164,000 – the lowest level since 2007. But experts suggested the slump in the value of the pound could lure more students to the UK.
Yesterday the Prime Minister ordered a crackdown on non-EU workers and students in a bid to cut sky-high immigration. Immigration minister Robert Goodwill said cutting the number of migrants coming to the UK would be a priority in the negotiations to leave the EU.
He insisted Government reforms to cut immigration were working but added: ‘There is no doubt there is far more to do.’
THERE really is nothing to cheer in yesterday’s immigration statistics. Yes, net migration is down slightly, but at 327,000 a year, it is still three times the government target of tens of thousands.
Eastern European migration continues to transform British society, with more Polish-born nationals now living in the UK than those from any other country. Numbers arriving from Romania and Bulgaria continue to rise inexorably, exploding the predictions of immigration-deniers, while endorsing those of the unerringly accurate MigrationWatch.
Most troubling is the figure for births to mothers born outside the UK, which now account for more than one in four of the national total. In Newham, east London, a staggering three-quarters of births are to foreign-born mothers.
It is therefore reassuring that Theresa May has ordered a crackdown on non-EU migrant numbers, for too long inflated by foreign students using study as a cover for work but who never go home.
The Mail is also confident the PM will insist on the restoration of border and migrant controls once Brexit negotiations begin. It is what the country demands.