Polish baby boom continues in UK

Piccadilly Circus, London. Photo:wikipedia

The survey for 2013 marks the fourth year in a row that Poles have topped the list, with 21,300 babies born to Polish mothers in 2013.

Second place was taken by mothers born in Pakistan, and third by those born in India. The ONS found that over a quarter of births (26.5%) in England and Wales in 2013 were to mothers born outside the UK, marking a small increase since 2012 (25.9%).

The Rzeczpospolita daily has noted that about 6 percent of all Poles born in 2013 are growing up in the UK (in Poland, mothers gave birth to 370,000 children last year).

Earlier this year, the paper drew attention to the fact that the average Polish mother in England and Wales raises 2.3 children, whereas in Poland the birthrate is 1.3.

A 2011 census estimated that the UK had a Polish population of 569,000 that year.

With Poland facing a demographic crisis (analysts have estimated the population will drop by 2 million by 2035) Polish political parties of all colours are trying to encourage families to have more children.

Last week, Prime Minister Donald Tusk pledged in parliament that the government will do more to aid families, including providing a 20 percent increase in concessions for every third and subsequent child. (nh)