One in four babies in Britain is born to a foreign father and nearly two thirds of newborns in London has at least one parent from overseas
- A quarter of babies born in 2011 had a foreign-born father. A ten per cent rise from 21.12 per cent in 2000 to 31 per cent in 2011. More than 130,000 children born in 2011 had two parents born outside UK
Uniting nations: A quarter of UK babies have a father born abroad
One in four British babies has a father born in a different country, figures released ahead of Father's Day show.
The report shows 171,000 - 24 per cent - of children born in England and Wales in 2011 had a foreign-born father.
The main birthplace for foreign fathers is Pakistan, followed by Poland, India and Bangladesh.
When both mothers and fathers are taken into account, almost a third of all babies, 31 per cent, had at least one parent born abroad, according to the Office for National Statistics. This is a substantial rise on the figure in 2000, when just 21.2 per cent of babies had at least one non-British-born father or mother. The statistics also show that some 131,288 children had two foreign-born parents – 18.1 per cent of the total number of births in 2011. The figures show that 64.9 per cent of babies born in London in 2011 had either one or two parents born outside the UK.
The next highest percentages were seen in the West Midlands, where 28.7 per cent had at least one foreign parent; the South East, 27.7 per cent; and the East of England, which covers counties to the north and east of the capital, 26.9 per cent.
At the other end of the scale, the figure in the North East was 13.1 per cent, and 14 per cent in Wales. In Scotland, it was 18.3 per cent.
David Green, from the centre-right think-tank Civitas, said earlier this year: ‘The irresponsible actions of the last government have played havoc with public services, leading to serious harm especially in the NHS, and serious harm in the schools system.
‘Maternity units are in crisis, there are huge pressures on school places, and housing is under even more pressure that it otherwise would have been.’
Mixed capital: In London, 64.9 per cent of babies born in 2011 had either one or two parents born abroad
A spokesman for the Office for National Statistics said that in 2000, the proportion of babies in England and Wales born to at least one foreign-born parent was 21.2 per cent.
Not all births are necessarily to parents who live in Britain permanently, as some could be people who travel to the UK to take advantage of its free NHS.
In March, a leading surgeon, Professor Meirion Thomas, said the UK was becoming the ‘world’s maternity wing’ as people travel here simply to give birth.
Years of high immigration levels have put intolerable pressure on maternity units because the number of births has been far higher than officials had predicted. There is currently a shortage of more than 3,000 midwives in the NHS.
Culled from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2341464/One-babies-Britain-father-born-overseas.html#ixzz2WDFoFRhm
