Report shows declining births signifying end to baby boom

The baby boomer epidemic, which was likely sparked by the coronavirus pandemic, appears to have come to an end in January this year.

No matter how you look at it, the number of births in Jan, Feb, and Mar is at par with those in prior years before Covid-19 pandemic. After reporting by De Gelderlander, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) confirmed that the birth count was low in April.

In January, February, and March of 2022, more than 53,000 infants were born. In 2021, no fewer than 57,000 babies were birthed in the first third month, a surprisingly large number in comparison with earlier years.

The rate of birth in 2021 was likely facilitated by the coronavirus restrictions, according to the sociologist, Tanja Traag of CBS. She thinks that partners on the brink of having kids but had delayed felt that the lockdown was the right period to begin.

The term "lucky births" was used by Traag because couples were able to combine their job and personal life more effectively as a result of spending quality time together and working from their houses. 

The numbers of new births appear to be declining once again. In Jan, Feb, and Mar of this year, the same number of babies was born in comparison to the same period between 2015 and 2020.

In April, an average of 12,800 babies were delivered, this shows a significant decline from the 13,500 babies per month on the average in the lockdown months. No one can tell for sure as of now if this trend will continue, according to Traag.

The sociologist said that the sum of births has gone back to the actual levels this year and April saw even smaller figures due to a variety of reasons. People are returning to work since social-distancing restrictions are called off.

Couples may be delaying beginning a family due to the present economic tension and housing demand tightness.