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Immigration and births to non-British mothers pushes British population to record high
Last updated at 09:09am on 22.08.08
The soaring birth rate among immigrant mothers will soon become the main driver of Britain's rapid population growth, Government experts have predicted.
Immigration has been the biggest factor in increasing the population in recent years, and with millions of new arrivals starting families the birth rate is soaring.
The Office for National Statistics said yesterday that it could be the main source of overall population growth as early as next year, overtaking immigration itself.
Almost a quarter of all babies in Britain are now born to immigrant mothers. In London the figure is 54 per cent, rising to 75 per cent in some boroughs.
Foreign-born mothers have an average of 2.54 children, compared with 1.79 for women born in the UK.
In most cases a baby born in the UK acquires automatic citizenship if one parent holds a UK passport, although rules are complex.
If parents have settled in Britain legally, children can secure British citizenship within a few years.
A record number of immigrants settled in the UK in the year to June 2007, topping 600,000 for the first time and helping push Britain's population to a new high of 60,975,000, a rise of almost two million in six years.
The immigration rate of 605,000 - double the figure when Labour came to power - means that on average 1,650 newcomers are settling here every day.
There are currently 6.3million people in the UK who were born abroad - well over 10 per cent of the population, and 1.1million more than in 2004. Polish workers account for almost a third of that increase.
Just over 400,000 UK residents left to live abroad last year, which still left a net inward migration of some 200,000 people.
ONS experts admitted they were 'surprised' by the continued growth after several years of sustained high immigration, when they had anticipated a tailing off two to three years after the EU's expansion began a huge influx from eastern Europe.
Announcing the figures today, Government statisticians singled out the number of babies born to immigrants as a significant trend.
It threatens to put even more pressure on public services, with schools and hospitals already struggling to cope.
A report published earlier this month revealed that one in eight pupils speaks English as a second language. MPs and unions have called for urgent action to prevent schools being overwhelmed by the pressure.
They warned that teachers are being forced to juggle resources as migrant children take longer to understand lessons and divert the teacher's energies from other pupils.
Maternity wards have been forced to turn away expectant mothers because they cannot cope with soaring demand from immigrants.
One hospital had to shut its maternity ward for two months because staff were needed elsewhere to deliver babies from foreign-born mothers.
An investigation by the BBC found the cost of providing maternity services for immigrants has more than doubled in only a decade to £350million a year.
Guy Goodwin of the ONS said: 'It is clear that yesterday's migrants as well as today's migrants are now contributing to the net population growth we are seeing.'
High immigration has increased the number of women of childbearing age in the UK, with those aged 15 to 44 up two per cent since 2001.
The number of babies born to UK-born mothers has risen by six per cent in six years, to reach 529,700.
By contrast the figure for immigrant mothers leapt by 64 per cent from 97,900 to 160,300 over the same period - accounting for two thirds of the overall increase in the nation's birth rate.
Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said: 'With births to foreign mothers becoming such a large driver of population growth, it is vital that immigration levels are set taking into account the ability of our schools, hospitals and other local services to cope.'
A Home Office spokesman said: 'Migrants contribute to the economy, putting more in than they take out.
'It is vital we take the social impact of migration into account when we make migration decisions.
"That's why we set up the Migration Impact Forum to provide independent advice to the Government.
'We will also ask migrants to pay a little extra towards a fund of tens of millions of pounds to help services to deal with the short-term pressures of migration.'
She said a new points-based system to select immigrant workers was part of 'the biggest shake-up to the immigration system for a generation'.
Backlog of failed asylum seekers grows
Britain's backlog of failed asylum seekers is growing fast with the level of new claims rising sharply, while numbers being removed have dropped to a six-year low.
Figures show that 5,720 people claimed asylum in the three months to June, 15 per cent higher than the same period last year.
The number of failed asylum seekers removed from Britain plunged to 2,745 in the second quarter, down 18 per cent year-on-year.
A target announced in 2005 by Tony Blair to remove more failed asylum seekers than the number of new unfounded claims is now being missed by a wide margin.
Reader views (19)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
This is in absolute disgrace! When is this government going to put an end to this mass over take of our country.
As said before of course they are going to pop kids out over here, they get to stay then and claim all the benefits that WE as British citizens have spent many years putting our taxes in to. Do you see this as fair? Every other day you read in the paper about foreign people making out they have about 10 children to claim benefits and houses.
As long as our government continue to let every tom, dick and harry in and give them handout after handout and a lovely 4 bedroom house then of course they are going to stay.
And please don't anyone respond saying about their Human Rights, I'm sick of them do gooders. How about our human rights as a nation or hard working people being overtaken by these foreign citizens wrecking our country and putting strain on every single resource we have!
- Lucy, London
at the current rate - excluding immigrant births - that is another 6million people - without English as a first language, without 'hi tech' skills, without contributions to NHS and Pensions, needing housing, childcare, schooling, GP's, benefits... paid for by whom...oh, yes, the current UK taxpayers. It is not sustainable, not right and not wanted.
- Gary, wycombe
Nathanial, that is way too inaccurate to suggest that the British Isles is a nation of immigrants. I'm guessing you have lived in and rarely ventured far out of London to make such a stupid assertion. 90% of the British population is white British and can almost certainly trace back its UK ancestry for several centuries.
- Simon, London, UK
Oh for goodness sake. We're all human beings aren't we? What does it matter where we come from?
- Barbara, London, UK
"A Home Office spokesman said: 'Migrants contribute to the economy, putting more in than they take out. " aren't they tired of chanting this tired and patently false mantra?
- Squiz, Islington
Jonathan - why is it OK for your children to work in another country, but not OK for foreigners to work here? Bit hypocritical isn't it?
- Collette, London
Have we all taken leave of our senses?
What about Christine Ohuruogu, born to Nigerian parents in London, winner of 400m gold at the Olympics? I presume this is ok?
Oh, and Linford Christie, son of Jamaican parents...
We're a nation of immigrants, or haven't you been watching the BBC's 'Who do you think you are?'
- Nathanial Mann, London, UK
Sadly, the people who pay for this reckless campaign are the ones who paid up in Tax and National Insurance. While the National Institute of Government Puppets block access to Excellent Treatments and Drugs, and whinge on about the ageing of the population, No attention is paid to the cost of all these births.
When hard working people have to spend much needed life savings on Private Health care, questions have to be asked.
This is not a race issue: it is a justice issue. I wonder if the Government could be sued for misapproatriation of monies held in insurance policy. I'm sure Bupa Policy Holders would sue if they couldn't get much needed treatment because Bupa had spent their funds on non policy holders. Start thinking!
- Maria, London
The one and only contribution that this vile government make to the most important issue facing our nation is....
'but they are good for the economy'
Not only is that a myth, but is that all that matters? The economy? What about the social fabric of our country? And they wonder why we live in a broken society
Anyone who votes New Labour is as much to blame as the traitors themselves
- Lb, London
The really scary thing is if you look at who is leaving. Educated, young families who would be the taxpaying back bone of their generation. Third World here we come...
- Mark, London
Difficult to make any comments and stay politically correct on this kind of topic. The thing is: are we really living in democracies? I'm now told I'm living in a multicultural society but I don't remember having ever been asked what I thought about it! Such things as referendi do exist! Governments well know that the majority of European people want to put a definite stop to mass immigration.
- Jacques, Cannes - France
25% off births in Newham are born to "British" mothers.
About 20% those would be white, the rest being 2nd/3rd generation of immigrants
(Most of which do not consider themselves British)
So roughly 5% of births in Newham are White British" as they annoyingly like to class us as when filling out forms.
- Chris, London
I see it every day, immigrant Somalian women pushing prams with 2 babies in them and accompanying them are 2 more children, it's getting ridiculous, this is adding NOTHING to this country other than more expenditure. I honestly can't remember the last time I saw a Somalian woman NOT pushing a pram.
- Martin, London
My children have left the country to work abroad, and it looks like they have made a good choice. Has anyone worked out how the country is going to pay for these people, with, we are told, 750,000 unemployed in the East end of London, and most of them immigrants?
- Jonathan Montmorency, cooden, uk
As long as they have the benefits system in this country and the free housing people will continue like this. Time to stop it.
- Charlie, London
Of course they pop them out. Having a kid here secures your future. How did this government not see this coming when they opened the damn doors. Idiots. How are they supposed to school all these kids. This is tiny island.
- Charlie, London
A stunning statistic, truly unbelievable. Also as the door has not been closed it still wide open, then there is no bottom line to this story. We are not at the beginning of the end, we are at the end of the beginning ( who said that?)
I wonder what would happen in say Egypt or Vietnam or Gabon, as random examples, if you told those people of those countries that they would be soon a minority in their own countries. They would probably do something about it. Probably something very dynamic.
Not the British though, dynamism drains away in the corrupt British political system. But then the smug complacent Brits think that their political system is perfectly alright. Even when the institutions of that perfect system are replacing the native population with aliens. If it were not so tragic it would be very funny. The funniest part is that it will affect everyone, even those British who favour immigration yet live as far away from ethnicity as they can travel. They can run but they cannot hide, as someone said once.
- Graham, Enriched and diverse South London
I am glad I now live in Australia.
- Brian Dean, Sydney Australia
Andy they wonder why we are having a recession!
- Jo, London
