Replacing ourselves as the birth rate declines
Alaska Highway News
February 12, 2008
Opinion

Worrying about the declining birth rate can seem like standing against the tide. It's a worldwide trend with complex causes. It is, however, not irreversible….

In Canada, each woman will have, on average, 1.5 children. Most industrialized countries are in similar situations….

As a recent series in the Ottawa Citizen showed, the decline in birth rate is part of a larger, and worrying, demographic shift. Canada is getting older. That has consequences for the labour market, for social services, for family dynamics.

If Canada doesn't find a way to alter our demographic course, we will face challenges, but we will survive. …

If it were simply that today's young adults didn't want children, the problem might be impossible to solve. Everyone has the right to decide on his or her own life course, and it would be inappropriate for the government to start urging young women to bear children for the greater good. Women are still breaking down barriers in many occupations; the last thing they need is old-fashioned baby guilt.

Fortunately, the problem isn't due to a lack of will - or at least, not entirely. When asked, Canadians say they want to have at least two children. Then life gets in the way. There are student loans and mortgages, and the pressure on both young women and men to get established in a decent career - not to mention saving for retirement, an issue made all the more urgent by the aging of society. The average first-time mother in Canada is about 30. The longer people wait to have children, the less likely they are to have big families.

The challenge, for government and employers, is to remove as many obstacles as possible. If workdays aren't flexible enough to allow young workers to be good parents, that's something for employers and unions to address

Child care isn't a right that the government must pay for, but it is a social good that has enormous benefits, especially for the labour market. Whatever encourages the proliferation of affordable, convenient and high-quality day care will also remove one worry from thirtysomethings trying to decide whether to have children….