What happens to births on a bank holiday?

Published by Birthday Traffic · September 15, 2026 · Sources and method

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• 82%births on Easter Mondayof matched control days, the lowest of the five
• 88%births on Good Fridayof matched control days, the highest of the five
• 155 of 155holiday-years below their controlsfive holidays, every year compared
• ±14 dayscontrol dayssame weekday, same year

England and Wales have five bank holidays that move with the calendar: Good Friday and Easter Monday follow Easter, the early May and Spring bank holidays are Mondays in May, and the Summer bank holiday is the last Monday in August. Because they move, a matched comparison finds them. Against the same weekday one and two weeks either side in the same year, every one of the five recorded fewer births in every one of the 31 years 1995–2025: from 82% of control days on Easter Monday to 88% on Good Friday. This is an association between a holiday date and a lower daily count in the records.

Good Friday

Good Friday is the Friday before Easter Sunday, under the rules published on GOV.UK. The dates below are derived from that rule in code, with the documented moves applied.

Across the 31 years, Good Friday recorded 51,110 births where its control days averaged 58,105 over the same number of days: a ratio of 88.0%. Year by year the ratio ran from 80.9% to 95.5%, below 100% in 31 of 31 years; the mean of the yearly ratios is 87.9% with a plain two-standard-error range of 86.8% to 89.0%.

Control days: the same weekday one and two weeks before and after, inside the same year (four controls in every year). A control that is itself one of the five studied holidays is dropped.

Easter Monday

Easter Monday is the Monday after Easter Sunday, under the rules published on GOV.UK. The dates below are derived from that rule in code, with the documented moves applied.

Across the 31 years, Easter Monday recorded 45,780 births where its control days averaged 56,015 over the same number of days: a ratio of 81.7%. Year by year the ratio ran from 77.3% to 87.3%, below 100% in 31 of 31 years; the mean of the yearly ratios is 81.7% with a plain two-standard-error range of 80.7% to 82.6%.

Control days: the same weekday one and two weeks before and after, inside the same year (two to four controls per year, fewer where a control fell on another studied holiday or outside the year). A control that is itself one of the five studied holidays is dropped.

Early May bank holiday

Early May bank holiday is the first Monday in May, moved to Friday May 8 in 1995 and 2020, under the rules published on GOV.UK. The dates below are derived from that rule in code, with the documented moves applied.

Across the 31 years, Early May bank holiday recorded 47,179 births where its control days averaged 56,594 over the same number of days: a ratio of 83.4%. Year by year the ratio ran from 79.0% to 88.6%, below 100% in 31 of 31 years; the mean of the yearly ratios is 83.3% with a plain two-standard-error range of 82.5% to 84.1%.

Control days: the same weekday one and two weeks before and after, inside the same year (two to four controls per year, fewer where a control fell on another studied holiday or outside the year). A control that is itself one of the five studied holidays is dropped.

Spring bank holiday

Spring bank holiday is the last Monday in May, moved to June 3 in 2002, June 4 in 2012 and Thursday June 2 in 2022 for the jubilees, under the rules published on GOV.UK. The dates below are derived from that rule in code, with the documented moves applied.

Across the 31 years, Spring bank holiday recorded 47,738 births where its control days averaged 57,199 over the same number of days: a ratio of 83.5%. Year by year the ratio ran from 75.7% to 89.1%, below 100% in 31 of 31 years; the mean of the yearly ratios is 83.4% with a plain two-standard-error range of 82.5% to 84.3%.

Control days: the same weekday one and two weeks before and after, inside the same year (four controls in every year). A control that is itself one of the five studied holidays is dropped.

Summer bank holiday

Summer bank holiday is the last Monday in August, under the rules published on GOV.UK. The dates below are derived from that rule in code, with the documented moves applied.

Across the 31 years, Summer bank holiday recorded 47,252 births where its control days averaged 57,690 over the same number of days: a ratio of 81.9%. Year by year the ratio ran from 75.3% to 87.3%, below 100% in 31 of 31 years; the mean of the yearly ratios is 81.8% with a plain two-standard-error range of 80.8% to 82.8%.

Control days: the same weekday one and two weeks before and after, inside the same year (four controls in every year). A control that is itself one of the five studied holidays is dropped.

Method, in full

1. Derive each year’s holiday date from the published rule: Easter Sunday by the Gregorian computus, then the Friday before and the Monday after; the first Monday in May; the last Monday in May; the last Monday in August. Apply the documented moves: the early May holiday to Friday May 8 in 1995 and 2020, the Spring holiday to June 3 in 2002, June 4 in 2012 and Thursday June 2 in 2022. One-off extra holidays (December 31, 1999; June 4, 2002; April 29, 2011; June 5, 2012; June 3, 2022; May 8, 2023) are one-off and stay outside the study.
2. Take the England and Wales daily birth count for that date from the ONS series, 1995–2025.
3. Take the same weekday at −14, −7, +7 and +14 days, within the same calendar year. Drop any control that is itself one of the five studied holidays.
4. Compare the holiday count with the mean of its controls, as a ratio. The figures reported are the observed ratio, its year-by-year range, the count of years below 100% and a plain two-standard-error range of the yearly ratios.

What this shows

This is a matched calendar comparison. It identifies an association between these holiday dates and lower recorded daily counts. Scheduling of inductions and planned caesareans, staffing, registration practice and anything else that varies with a holiday are all inside these figures together. Good Friday and Easter Monday are three days apart, so each has its own controls outside Easter weekend. Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day are fixed dates and have their own page.

Check your own birthday → · England & Wales, all 366 dates · The same method for Labor Day and Thanksgiving