Polish baby boom in UK

The statistics reveal a rising trend since Poland joined the European Union in 2004, a watershed that saw the opening up of the labour market in the UK.

Current ratios show that one in every 38 babies born in Britain is to a Polish migrant mother. This represents a six-fold increase on 2005's figures, when only 3500 such births were recorded (0.5 percent of the national whole).

Last year, some 19,762 babies were born to Polish migrant mothers, some 2.7 percent of all births in the UK.

Since Poland joined the EU, some 900,000 Poles have been given a UK National Insurance Number, the legal prerequisite to working in Britain.

However, it is estimated that unofficially, hundreds of thousands more took work.

Although there was much talk in the media of a return to Poland in the wake of the credit crunch, the exodus back to Poland has not taken place as of yet.

Nevertheless, in terms of births, figures appear to have levelled out somewhat. 2010 saw an increase of about 1500 Polish babies on the previous year's figures (from 18,159 to 19,762 ). 2008 was the real boom year, with some 16,101 babies born, a 4000 increase on 2007. (nh/pg)