By Back in March 2020 social media was rife with jokes about an imminent explosion of lockdown babies. The “boom” has yet to reach the heights of anticipation..
A year later the boom hasn’t materialised, instead there is growing evidence from around the world that the pandemic has led to a baby bust. Indeed, it looks as if falling birth rates is yet another trend that the coronavirus crisis has accelerated.
So up until now no boom, but new research has suggested that the end of lockdown restrictions may create a baby boom big enough to match the one that happened at the end of World War Two.
The research by Opinium, commissioned by Starling Bank, found that as many as 1.9 million UK babies could be born in the two years following the end of restrictions, if respondents follow through with their stated intentions to start a family.
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A quarter of 25 to 40 year olds responded to the research saying that having children is now more important to them than it was prior to the pandemic. Over half of those who wished to “fast track” life goals in the wake of the pandemic said they intend to have children during the next two years.
If these respondents follow through with their desires to start a family in the next two years, the number of children born would equate to 950,000 babies per year – just over the 900,000 born in 1946 after the war’s end.
In comparison, there were an average of 650,000 babies born each year between 2018 and 2019.
Experts are predicting that 2021 will see the lowest UK birth rate since records began thanks to the pandemic, but some believe that, as life returns to normal, pent up demand for starting a family combined with changed priorities could see a surge in the birth rate towards the end of the year and during 2022.
Olivia and Oliver are still the most popular baby names in the UK. In 2019 and 2020, the UK saw some more unusual baby names topping the lists of most popular and 2021 looks like it may have a pattern of nature-themed names for babies.
These are the most popular baby names currently in the UK.
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