English Give Up on Having Kids

Apparently British and Welsh citizens weren’t feeling particularly frisky in 2012, as 2013 saw the biggest drop in babies born in England and Wales in almost 40 years. With the exception of 2009, birth numbers had been rising every year since 2001. According to the government, the 4.3 percent decrease could be influenced by “uncertainty about employment and lower career and promotion opportunities” and government changes to the welfare system. The decrease was the largest since 1975. More than one-quarter of the births were to mothers born outside Britain.