Family and Fertility Patterns of the Recent Foreign-Born Population in the UK

Lorraine Waller, University of Southampton
Ann Berrington, University of Southampton
James Raymer, University of Southampton

Immigration is of great importance for the UK population, with net migration accounting for the majority of population growth between 1998 and 2008. Furthermore, foreign-born fertility has been partially responsible for the increasing importance of natural change from 2008 onwards, with 24% of live births in England and Wales in 2008 occurring to foreign-born mothers, compared to 14% in 1998. However, little is known of the wider context within which this childbearing is occurring, with existing analyses of immigrant family patterns largely based on 2001 census data, and therefore unable to account for compositional changes in UK immigration following A8 accession to the EU in 2004. This study contributes to the area with updated quantitative analyses of the partnership and children statuses of recent immigrants to the UK, using pooled UK Labour Force Survey data for 2001-2008, and focusing on individuals from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Poland and ‘other A8’ countries.