Sierra Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Hi Sierra, I'm assuming from your previous posts that your an ex-pat living in the US and you have children? So at some point you will have been one of those 'foreigners' who added to the American gene pool. The reason it's not something to be concerned about is the same reason you consider yourself a 'token yank', immigrants move to new countries, have children, they have children and over time they assimilate into the host population. I guess your children will consider themselves American, but have a special interest in their British background (assuming you were born here). I posted a link earlier to Jessica Ennis, she has a black father who I guess wasn't born here. Jessica has a white, British boyfriend, so their children will look more like her white, British mother than they will her black, Jamaican father. It would be hard to think that any such progeny would consider themselves anything other than British first. My own back ground is similar, I'm the offspring of immigrants to the UK, have worked throughout my adult life, been an employer and had children..of the mixed race variety, who consider themselves Sheffielders first, then Yorkshiremen, then British and then Jamaican. London is and always has been a very diverse city, as the main destination for immigrants for centuries, so although the headline figure might appear high, the immigrant population of London is also higher than it is for other areas (the % of births to foreign mother's in the north east was only 9.6%). But in any event, the vast majority of all those children will consider themselves citizens of the country of their birth, assimilate into it and make a contribution..just as you and your children do in the US Personally I don't give a monkey's what colour/nationality or religion my neighbour is, provided he makes a contribution, isn't anti social and knows the difference between Lea & Perrins and Hendersons. The irksome slant that the Daily Mail put on the story, associating births amongst foreign women to benefit tourism is particularly distasteful. Hey boyfriday, I'm not an ex-pat. I'm a California native, as are my children and husband. My token yank status comes from the time I spent as a mod. One of only two Americans (Happy Hoosier was the other one) among the Brits. And everyone was lovely to us. In any case, I'm comparing the 43% of babies with foreign born mothers in California (pop. 36 million) to London's (pop. 8 million) 56.7 % of babies with foreign born mothers. In fact, the number of babies with foreign born mothers in London exceeds all 50 states in the US. 312,000,000 people. Even with the fourteenth amendment, London's percentage is still higher than ours. That is unbelievable. And I'm not going to lie, we have problems. Not everyone assimilates happily. I know, you all consider the Daily Mail a rag. I did read the article, and still can't see what everyone is upset about. The facts don't change. There are a lot of foreign born women in your country having babies. People don't come to England to abuse the NHS? Of course they do! It would make more sense if they presented a clearer picture of who these women are, why they're here, if they plan to stay or leave after their babies are born. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mecky Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 There is an article in today's Metro. Around 25.5% of people born in the UK in 2011 were born to foreign born mothers. That's means a whopping 75% were born to British mothers. What does foreign borm mother mean anyway, a British citizen who may have been born an Australian 35 years ago? When will people realise that stats can mean anything people want them to mean? With the sort of stats banded around in the OP, it can only come from the Daily Fail in a poor attempt to influence, scaremonger and inflame public opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyfriday Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Hey boyfriday, I'm not an ex-pat. I'm a California native, as are my children and husband. My token yank status comes from the time I spent as a mod. One of only two Americans (Happy Hoosier was the other one) among the Brits. And everyone was lovely to us. Oops, I wrongly assumed you were a Brit, I have to ask what drew you to the forum then? I know, you all consider the Daily Mail a rag. It is a rag Sierra because it consistently puts a xenophobic slant and often lies in the stories it publishes. I did read the article, and still can't see what everyone is upset about. The facts don't change. There are a lot of foreign born women in your country having babies. I think it's the people who see this as a problem who are getting upset. People don't come to England to abuse the NHS? Of course they do! I didn't say they don't but the inference in the article is that 56% of the births in London are down to such 'benefit tourists', when it will actually be a minute number, foreigners don't have an automatic right to use the services of the NHS for free. It would make more sense if they presented a clearer picture of who these women are, why they're here, if they plan to stay or leave after their babies are born. Ah, that is precisely my point, making such bold statements without describing who they are and their benefit status is why I described the article as irksome! They might all be married to British citizens, be foreign students or Saudi billionaires for all we know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mj.scuba Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 There is an article in today's Metro. Around 25.5% of people born in the UK in 2011 were born to foreign born mothers. That's means a whopping 75% were born to British mothers. What does foreign borm mother mean anyway, a British citizen who may have been born an Australian 35 years ago? When will people realise that stats can mean anything people want them to mean? With the sort of stats banded around in the OP, it can only come from the Daily Fail in a poor attempt to influence, scaremonger and inflame public opinion. Ah yes the Daily Fail, or erm, the BBC, The Telegraph, The Guardian, the ONS. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-19427776 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/9508687/Record-number-of-babies-born-to-foreign-born-mothers.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/davehillblog/2012/may/22/london-birth-to-mothers-born-overseas http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/parents--country-of-birth--england-and-wales/2010/births-in-england-and-wales-by-parents--country-of-birth--2010.html The link from the ONS gives a vitally important stat: The total fertility rates have risen to 1.88 for UK born women and 2.45 for non-UK born women That means if it wasn't for the portion of foreigners giving birth here, our population would actually start to go down. For those of us that recognise that population growth is a problem, this is why the high number of foreign borns is a problem as they're pushing our population ever higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happ Hazzard Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 London isn't really part of England anymore IMO. We should have our own capital like the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthenekred Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 London isn't really part of England anymore IMO. We should have our own capital like the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish do. My vote goes to Donny. not Osmond, that would be silly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anywebsite Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Hey boyfriday, I'm not an ex-pat. I'm a California native, as are my children and husband. My token yank status comes from the time I spent as a mod. One of only two Americans (Happy Hoosier was the other one) among the Brits. And everyone was lovely to us. In any case, I'm comparing the 43% of babies with foreign born mothers in California (pop. 36 million) to London's (pop. 8 million) 56.7 % of babies with foreign born mothers. In fact, the number of babies with foreign born mothers in London exceeds all 50 states in the US. 312,000,000 people. Even with the fourteenth amendment, London's percentage is still higher than ours. That is unbelievable. And I'm not going to lie, we have problems. Not everyone assimilates happily. I know, you all consider the Daily Mail a rag. I did read the article, and still can't see what everyone is upset about. The facts don't change. There are a lot of foreign born women in your country having babies. People don't come to England to abuse the NHS? Of course they do! It would make more sense if they presented a clearer picture of who these women are, why they're here, if they plan to stay or leave after their babies are born. London is a city not a state, it's not a fair comparison. According to Wikipedia NYC, LA, HK, Paris & Toronto have higher foreign born populations than London. London doesn't even make the top 10 list percentage wise. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_born#Cities.2FRegions_With_Largest_Foreign_Born_Populations Anyway what exactly is the problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mecky Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Ah yes the Daily Fail, or erm, the BBC, The Telegraph, The Guardian, the ONS. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-19427776 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/9508687/Record-number-of-babies-born-to-foreign-born-mothers.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/davehillblog/2012/may/22/london-birth-to-mothers-born-overseas http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/parents--country-of-birth--england-and-wales/2010/births-in-england-and-wales-by-parents--country-of-birth--2010.html The link from the ONS gives a vitally important stat: The total fertility rates have risen to 1.88 for UK born women and 2.45 for non-UK born women That means if it wasn't for the portion of foreigners giving birth here, our population would actually start to go down. For those of us that recognise that population growth is a problem, this is why the high number of foreign borns is a problem as they're pushing our population ever higher. Ah yes the Daily Fail, or erm, the BBC, The Telegraph, The Guardian, the ONS. The OP did not mention the BBC, The Telegraph, The Guardian, the ONS (Quango). That means if it wasn't for the portion of foreigners giving birth here, our population would actually start to go down. That's great logic, you'll go far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyfriday Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Ah yes the Daily Fail, or erm, the BBC, The Telegraph, The Guardian, the ONS. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-19427776 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/9508687/Record-number-of-babies-born-to-foreign-born-mothers.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/davehillblog/2012/may/22/london-birth-to-mothers-born-overseas http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/parents--country-of-birth--england-and-wales/2010/births-in-england-and-wales-by-parents--country-of-birth--2010.html The link from the ONS gives a vitally important stat: The total fertility rates have risen to 1.88 for UK born women and 2.45 for non-UK born women That means if it wasn't for the portion of foreigners giving birth here, our population would actually start to go down. For those of us that recognise that population growth is a problem, this is why the high number of foreign borns is a problem as they're pushing our population ever higher. ..the fertility rates amongst foreigners will be higher, because a larger percentage are of child bearing age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyfriday Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Hey boyfriday, I'm not an ex-pat. I'm a California native, as are my children and husband. My token yank status comes from the time I spent as a mod. One of only two Americans (Happy Hoosier was the other one) among the Brits. And everyone was lovely to us. Actually thinking about it I guess my point still stands..unless you're descended from native Americans. Please spare my embarrassment if you are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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