York saw a huge ‘Covid baby boom’, according to a new study.
The city saw a 158% increase in ‘lockdown baby’ registrations – one of the highest rises in the UK.
In a survey, insurance company Reassured analysed ONS births data and combined this with local register office figures sourced via freedom of information requests, to see how the number of registered babies compared with pre-pandemic – as well as where in the UK saw the biggest ‘boom’ in births.
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Birth registrations in the York were up 158% between December 2020 (nine months after the start of the pandemic) and July 2021, when compared data for the same period over 2019 and 2020.
That puts it at number seven in the UK. At number one was the Vale of Glamorgan with a whopping 345% increase.
Overall, nearly 3,800 babies have been registered in York since the start of the pandemic, while more than 1,700 were conceived and subsequently born here since the UK first went into lockdown.
According to the data, March 2021 was the peak birthday month for ‘Covid baby’ registrations in the York specifically.
Working back nine months, July 2020 came out as the month when the most ‘Covid babies’ were conceived in the city.
“With all Covid-19 restrictions now lifted, we’re finally able to look back and explore any more positive outcomes of such a challenging time, a spokesperson for Reassured said.
“Our analysis shows many took the big step of having a child in lockdown, with nearly a quarter of a million new-born babies registered by parents from December 2020 – nine months after the restrictive Covid-19 measures were put in place.