Older mothers 'aided' baby boom

The number of births has risen to its highest rate for 17 years

The number of babies born in Northern Ireland is at its highest rate for 17 years.

A total of 25,600 live births were registered in 2008, 5% more than 2007 and the highest number since 1991.

It is the sixth consecutive annual rise, according to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.

It said the boom was down to women having babies later and increased migration to NI. But the figures will affect plans for schools and teachers.

A NISRA spokesperson said: "Throughout the 1990s the number of babies born fell as more women in their twenties delayed having children.

"Today those women are now having babies in their thirties with the birth rate of women in their thirties having increased by nearly a quarter over the last decade.

"In addition more women have been moving to Northern Ireland to live and are having children here."

Last year 2,300 babies were born to mothers who were born themselves outside the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a three-fold increase from 2001 when 700 such babies were recorded.

The highest number of births in Northern Ireland in 2008 was in the Dungannon and Magherafelt council areas with the lowest birth rate recorded in Larne.

This is a reversal of current patterns where schools have been dealing with falling rolls Linda Clarke University of Ulster

BBC Northern Ireland education correspondent Maggie Taggart said the Department of Education had built a lot of its policies on the premise that school pupil numbers were falling rapidly.

"The minister talks about 50,000 empty seats in classrooms. However, the latest statistics point to a potential revival in pupil numbers," she said.

The Department of Education has said it has more children in the school system than it predicted, so will have to find an extra �4m.

Linda Clarke, a senior lecturer in education at the University of Ulster, welcomed news of the births.

She said: "I'm very pleased to hear this news and am pleased that the department is considering revising its figures and revising its spending.

"This is a reversal of current patterns where schools have been dealing with falling rolls."

The South Eastern Education board said it would look at the figures and adjust its plans accordingly.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version