Increase in lazy parenting, scum happy to pump kids out but don't want them interfering with their lifestyles in any way. Quite happy to sit them in front of an ipad and get on with their day as normal.
My Mrs (no) did her teaching practice at a school in Gateshead and one of the bairns spoke with an American accent because they’d been plonked in front of the telly to watch cartoons for most of their early years. That was in 2001.