At this point, "white" births refer only to Anglo births. Multiple New England writers explain this decline as a result of the influx of "pernicious" foreigners, and how they are "watering down" the British stock. They also identify the threat of "city life" as a problem for racial purity, as cities are inhabited by too many "foreigners" with luxurious habits. In particular, these writers write about old (pre-Civil War German and Irish) and new immigrants, stating that the population of "native born Americans" (Brits/Anglo-Saxons) started to shrink after the First Wave, and is now shrinking again.