Falling birth rate

Low birth rate yet high population growth, it’s crystal clear that many more migrants are going to be needed to service the economy.
Society is changing and there is nothing we can do about it.

David49

Low birth rate yet high population growth, it’s crystal clear that many more migrants are going to be needed to service the economy.
Society is changing and there is nothing we can do about it.

12.7% of 18-24 year olds are currently unemployed.

Does the country really need more people?

growstuff

Sago

growstuff

But a demand for fewer school places costs the country less.

Labour perhaps should have considered that before they put a 20% hike on private school fees.

I doubt if it would make much difference. There are plenty of places for all the country's children (if their parents don't mind them slumming it).

You clearly stated fewer school places would cost less, now you say it won’t make much difference!

Blimey the message - immigrants seems to be getting through.

High immigration levels generally means economic growth.

Sago

growstuff

Sago

growstuff

But a demand for fewer school places costs the country less.

Labour perhaps should have considered that before they put a 20% hike on private school fees.

I doubt if it would make much difference. There are plenty of places for all the country's children (if their parents don't mind them slumming it).

You clearly stated fewer school places would cost less, now you say it won’t make much difference!

I don't understand the point you're trying to make.

The number of pupils leaving private schools to go to state schools is tiny in the context of the amount spent on education nationally.

There are places for all of them.

Whitewavemark2

Blimey the message - immigrants seems to be getting through.

High immigration levels generally means economic growth.

Ah! But they might not have the right colour skin tone.

Whitewavemark2

Blimey the message - immigrants seems to be getting through.

High immigration levels generally means economic growth.

It does if they are actually working, not sitting in hotels costing money.

David49

Whitewavemark2

Blimey the message - immigrants seems to be getting through.

High immigration levels generally means economic growth.

It does if they are actually working, not sitting in hotels costing money.

The vast majority of immigrants are not siting in hotels costing money.

That's a bit dramatic! The human race won't be dying out any time soon

Well it will if people keep having fewer children. I thought that was kind of obvious

My parents were both one of six. I was one of three. I had two, my DD has two. Most working parents have two as it’s all they can afford. None of us has ever claimed benefits in our lives.

growstuff

David49

Whitewavemark2

Blimey the message - immigrants seems to be getting through.

High immigration levels generally means economic growth.

It does if they are actually working, not sitting in hotels costing money.

The vast majority of immigrants are not siting in hotels costing money.

None of them should be sitting in hotels costing money. Three months grace to get acclimatised then out to work you go and fund your own accommodation. That’s how it should be. No NHS either.

It is a cause for concern as long as the arrangements for state pension remain, it is something that has to change but no party will take it on because they know it will be political suicide.

I'm 60 and when I was 6 I chose never to have any kids, partly because I don't like them, and I've also chose never to marry as men are not my favourite creatures either. I also chose never to have a partner, no matter what their gender. .

There's also a drop in marriages in the UK. In 1972 there were over 480,00 which dropped to around 250,000 in 2019!

For centuries women were forced to be unpaid skivvies/subservient little housewives and mothers, a lot used as punch bags and r*p*d by husbands, or forced into being nuns when they were barely out of nappies, we weren't allowed to have our own brains or jobs or anything.

It's brilliant that we can now stand up for ourselves and our sisterhood all over the world!

David49

Whitewavemark2

Blimey the message - immigrants seems to be getting through.

High immigration levels generally means economic growth.

It does if they are actually working, not sitting in hotels costing money.

Oh dear! Tell me what is the status of those apparently sitting in hotels?

And what is their work entitlement?

Yep now they can sell photos of their feet on only fans, whoop whoop.

woodenspoon

growstuff

David49

Whitewavemark2

Blimey the message - immigrants seems to be getting through.

High immigration levels generally means economic growth.

It does if they are actually working, not sitting in hotels costing money.

The vast majority of immigrants are not siting in hotels costing money.

None of them should be sitting in hotels costing money. Three months grace to get acclimatised then out to work you go and fund your own accommodation. That’s how it should be. No NHS either.

Do you know what their legal status is?

Good grief.

After years and years of discussion of immigration, asylum seekers and refugees.

People are still clueless as to the law.

Don’t people read?😡

Growstuff I do resent the green fields being saturated with new housing, partly because it's the wrong type of housing.
It's mainly very expensive detached houses with 3 or 4 bedrooms and double garages nowhere near the town centre, schools or services. No public transport. Our town centre is a barren wasteland most of the time with steel shutters on the shops and just takeaways and pubs open in the evenings. The agents' blurb for the new builds advertises the ease of getting to the airport, motorway and out of town shopping.

Whitewavemark2

David49

Whitewavemark2

Blimey the message - immigrants seems to be getting through.

High immigration levels generally means economic growth.

It does if they are actually working, not sitting in hotels costing money.

Oh dear! Tell me what is the status of those apparently sitting in hotels?

And what is their work entitlement?

According to BBC (and other sources) undocumented migrants in the U.K. work as food delivery riders for Uber Eats by informally renting accounts from other couriers as a substitute rider.

Nice little earner…

Whitewavemark2

Blimey the message - immigrants seems to be getting through.

High immigration levels generally means economic growth.

If they work for the black market as loads do, they spend little and don’t pay any taxes.

Whitewavemark2

woodenspoon

growstuff

David49

Whitewavemark2

Blimey the message - immigrants seems to be getting through.

High immigration levels generally means economic growth.

It does if they are actually working, not sitting in hotels costing money.

The vast majority of immigrants are not siting in hotels costing money.

None of them should be sitting in hotels costing money. Three months grace to get acclimatised then out to work you go and fund your own accommodation. That’s how it should be. No NHS either.

Do you know what their legal status is?

Regardless of their legal status, many are working as delivery drivers. There is even a Uber Eats being run out of an asylum hotel. I have no objection to them working, I do object to them being funded by tax payers ad infinitum. If you don’t, perhaps you should offer to house a few.

It's not just here, all over the developed world, traditional catholic countries where women once would have had lots of children have decided for a number of reasons not to follow the route previous generations of women took. Umpteen factors, women now have the freedom to control how many children they have, often opting for one or two or possibly none, sometimes a fulfilling career will be more important to her than starting a family, possibly the restraints brought with having children no longer appeals. There are of course umpteen financial factors. Young people throughout Europe are finding it harder to set up independently and have their own home, often two incomes are vital to the household. Maybe the window of opportunity to plan a family doesn't present itself, possibly women leave it too late. Finally, couples may well look at the state of the world and think to themselves "why would I want to bring a child into this mess, we'll get a dog instead."

Grammaretto

Growstuff I do resent the green fields being saturated with new housing, partly because it's the wrong type of housing.
It's mainly very expensive detached houses with 3 or 4 bedrooms and double garages nowhere near the town centre, schools or services. No public transport. Our town centre is a barren wasteland most of the time with steel shutters on the shops and just takeaways and pubs open in the evenings. The agents' blurb for the new builds advertises the ease of getting to the airport, motorway and out of town shopping.

I have some sympathy for that view. I like open fields too and I've noticed that new developments often don't have any infrastructure - not even a corner shop.

That's one of the reasons I don't think an increasing population is necessarily a good thing.

PS. I have quite strong views about declining town centres, but that's probably for another thread.

Why has this thread degenerated into a rant about irregular immigration, which represents only a small percentage of total immigration?

Do people think that a declining birthrate is necessarily a bad thing? (That was the OP.)

Jane43

It is a cause for concern as long as the arrangements for state pension remain, it is something that has to change but no party will take it on because they know it will be political suicide.

Thanks for a relevant comment.

Yes, arrangements for the state pension will have to change. Having said that, younger people are now paying far more for NI than any of us ever did and I think they're more knowledgeable about saving for pensions too.