It's worth noting that the demography of the UK (as far as age is concerned) and of much of the developed where similar issues are present, is down to decades of pursuing an economic model that makes it very, very difficult for younger people to feel secure enough to start families. I'd also suggest that having children has transitioned from simply being the next step in a relationship to a moral dilemma that spans whether parents can afford to give a child a good life to what kind of world the child will grow up and live in given persistent insufficient action over the climate crisis.dpedin wrote: ↑Tue Dec 05, 2023 1:32 pm Immigration is a function of the demographics of the UK, our birth rates are currently c1.6 babies per woman, well below the 2.1 required to maintain the population and the % of over 65s has increased and projected to get bigger ie from 1:5 in 2019 to 1:4 by 2050. Without increased immigration the UK will continue to have labour market shortages and these will continue to get worse. Many sectors ie hospitality, care, health, will continue to suffer with workforce shortages despite all the Gov efforts to train and 'incentivise' others to get back into work. We will, indeed already have, severe workforce shortages in many geographical areas and in many services to look after the aging population. All the shite coming out of the Gov about getting Brits back into work are just trying to herd unicorns. With over 7m on the NHS waiting lists awaiting a new knee, hip or cataract removed many are in no fit state to come back into the labour market.
Pre Brexit and with FoM we never accurately, or even tried, to count the numbers of EU workers keeping the UK economy ticking over - we had no idea how many were working in the UK but it was more than many thought. Post Brexit many EU workers want home and with our new Border Controls we now count immigration and guess what? EU migrant numbers have continued to collapse and we have seen more returning home to EU and in order to meet labour market, University sector, etc demands we have increased immigration numbers from non EU countries ie India and Nigeria. The poor racist Brexteers who thought they could get vote Brexit to get rid of the Polish family next door have now welcomed the family from Nigeria. Fuck them!
Being able to rely on migration to plug gaps, be it from the EU or further abroad, allows the perpetuation of a system that continues to disincentivise the native population from reproduction.