New Zealand's Covid baby boom: where familiarity didn't breed contempt | David Downs and Joe Davis

Book extract: lockdowns may have had an anti-baby boom effect in some parts, but Kiwis appear to have made the most of close quarters

One of the early observations made by internet wags was the prediction that nine months after lockdown there would be a baby boom. The theory goes that suddenly being forced to spend weeks at home would ignite the passions of those interned in a way that a normal Saturday night on the couch watching reruns of Friends might not.

The Covid baby boom" was predicted to be like the period after the second world war, where soldiers returning from the front were delighted to be back in the bosom of their home country, with all the comforts that brings.