The NHS announcement earlier this month that maternity services in north London could be scaled down due to a “falling birth rate” will surprise no one who has just turned 30 in the capital. These days, you are more likely to be planning your third gap year in Vietnam than attending baby classes.
Primary schools are already beginning to feel the effects. Last week, Hackney Council said that four schools would soon close due to a “significant decline” in the number of children in the borough, blaming the housing crisis and Brexit. This followed official data released in August which showed that the number of babies born in England and Wales dropped to its lowest level in two decades last year. We are witnessing the beginning of a seismic demographic shift in our city — and almost no one is talking about it.
