June 2020 was the month in which the most ‘COVID-19 babies‘ were conceived, according to recent research from award-winning UK life insurance broker Reassured.
Reassured analysed ONS births data and correlated it with local register office figures sourced via a freedom of information request, to see how lockdown baby numbers compared with those pre-COVID pandemic.
But how was the North West region affected?
The local area which experienced the highest year-on-year increase in registered births was Wirral.
When data was compared between December 2020 – June 2021 vs December 2019 – June 2020 it showed the Wirral experienced an impressive 78% increase in births, as lockdown forced residents to spend more time at home.
In fact, Wirral was ranked 13th in the national list of highest UK birth rate areas, with the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales positioned 1st with a staggering 345% increase.
Further up the North West coast, seasiders in Blackpool were ranked 19th in the national study with a 57% rise in births during the same period.
Nationwide, the figures reveal that there were nearly a quarter of a million (222,409) ‘COVID babies’ conceived during the various lockdowns and born in the UK since December 2020.
Late December 2020 and early January 2021, saw a higher-than-normal birth rate, with 47,823 and 47,500 births registered respectively.
In late-March 2021 we saw a similar pattern, with 52,473 births registered across the UK. Working back nine months this reveals June 2020 as the peak month for ‘COVID baby’ conception.
The ‘peak’ birthday was found to be 23 March 2021 – exactly nine months after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced an easing of lockdown rules on 23 June 2020. Coincidence or not?
Top 20 – COVID-19 Baby Boom areas:
- Vale of Glamorgan (baby registrations up 345% December 2020 – June 2021 versus December 2019 -June 2020)
- Reading (up 196%)
- Bexley, London (up 193%)
- Sandwell, West Midlands (up 187%)
- Swansea, Wales (up 176%)
- Surrey (up 171%)
- Doncaster (up 154%)
- Dorset (up 154%)
- Suffolk (up 152%)
- Wokingham (up 144%)
- Rutland (up 110%)
- Birmingham (up 79%)
- Wirral (up 78%)
- Lambeth, London (up 69%)
- Hounslow, London (up 68%)
- Buckinghamshire (up 60%)
- Bristol (up 60%)
- Northamptonshire (up 58%)
- Blackpool (up 57%)
- Central Bedfordshire (up 50%)
Commenting on the research findings a spokesperson for Reassured said: “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.
“Our analysis shows many took the big step of having a child in lockdown, with nearly a quarter of a million newborn babies registered by parents from December 2020 – nine months after the restrictive COVID-19 measures were put in place.
Having a baby, especially a first child, is a common trigger to take out life insurance cover to protect their financial future, and our data shows a significant increase in policy sales during this time.”
