No baby boom in the time of corona | Torsten Bell
Financial worries, childcare and enforced distance mean sex has taken a backseat during lockdown
The start of lockdown feels a very long time ago. But cast your mind back and you may recall a spate of articles predicting an imminent baby boom. Under lockdown Britain, people were going to be incapable of keeping their hands off each other. Nadine Dorries, minister responsible for maternity services, tweeted how busy we are going to be, nine months from now".
I was always sceptical of these baby boom forecasts. After all, a good chunk of childbearing age Britain was basically banned from having sex, while another was quarantined with existing children, surely enough to put them off producing more. History also shows that we have fewer babies in recessions as financial pressures build.
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