Having Children

Unit 4 – Chapter 9

Childbearing in Canada

• Over 90% of Canadians say that they intend to become parents

• Childbearing in Canada changed dramatically since the 1960s

• Parenthood is an irreversible step• No matter how you become a parent,

parenthood changes your life forever• Parenthood is associated with permanence

and obligation

Looking Back at Expanding Families

• Suanne Kelman’s great myths of the history of family life:

1) Family groupings consisted of large extended families with at least 3 generations in one home

2) The nuclear family is a form unique to the industrialized world

3) For most of history, the family was merely an economic unit until the West invented romantic love

Childbearing in Canada Today

• In all modern post-industrial societies, children are valued for emotional and social reasons, not for economic reasons

• People have children today to satisfy social needsEx. Passing down the family name and

traditions, sharing values and views of the world

• People are also having children to fulfill psychological and emotional needs

Fertility Trends

• Fertility the ability to produce children• Fertility trends are of interest to public

planners and governments to plan future public policy, public agencies and social supports

• Total fertility rate is the estimated number of children born to each woman each year

• Canada’s total fertility rate is below replacement rate which is 2.1 births per woman

Fertility Trends

• We are not producing enough children to replace our population

• This raises concerns for business because there may not be enough workers or consumers for economic growth

• It is a concern for governments because there may not be enough younger people to create the economic output to provide the support systems for older generations

Fertility Trends

• Even though families are no longer worried about their children supporting them directly, as a society we need to be concerned that there will be enough people to support our social systems

The 1st Demographic Transition• Demographics are the characteristics of a

human population as used in government, marketing or opinion research

• Fertility rates in Canada have been decreasing since the 1870s

• During the first demographic transition, from 1870 – 1945, industrial families were expected to raise children on a family wage

The 1st Demographic Transition

• Mandatory schooling in 1870 and child-labour legislation in the early 1900s made children financially dependent on their parents for much longer

• Improved health care reduced infant and maternal mortality rates

• Birth control was illegal and was considered immoral and sinful

The 1st Demographic Transition

• Yet couples were aware of and used methods to control the size of their families

• Because families did not want as many children as before, the fertility rate declined

The Baby Boom

• The baby boom of 1947 to 1966 reflects the dramatic social changes that followed WWII

• Government policies and social marketing encouraged women to return to their domestic roles and have children

• A post-war housing boom enabled young families to buy houses in new suburban communities

• The federal government introduced the Family Allowance, a monthly payment per child to all mothers

The Baby Boom

• The Family Allowance acknowledged that Canadian society as a whole valued children and had a stake in them

• Canada’s fertility rate rose to 3.94 as the birth rate increased for older and younger women

• Social institutions and policies encouraged couples to have children

The 2nd Demographic Transition

• The baby-boom generation began to reach their childbearing years in the 1960s but they did not have children right away

• The birth-control pill became available and legalized in 1969

• It became the norm for couples to use contraception when they married until they were ready to have children

The 2nd Demographic Transition• Gender equality, increased education, greater

labour force participation and equal pay policies for women made it more costly to give up income to stay home and have children

• From 1961 to 1971, Canada’s fertility rate declined from 3.94 to 2.0, below the replacement level of 2.1

• It has continued to decline since then

Current Fertility Rates• In the past, younger women aged 20-24 were

responsible for the highest levels of fertility• Recently, fertility rates have started to

increase and are attributed to women aged 30-39

• Currently, the fertility rate of women aged 30-34 is higher than women aged 25-29

• The fertility rate in 2007 was 1.66, the highest since 1992

Births Outside of Marriage

• Births by unmarried women have increased• In the past, children born outside of marriage

were considered to be illegitimate, meaning the child did not have the legal rights to support the inheritance that a child born to married parents would have had

• Having a child “out of wedlock” was considered shameful and sinful

Births Outside of Marriage• In the past, mothers who did not give up their

child for adoption usually developed a story to explain the absence of a father

• The stigma seems to have disappeared

• In the past, births outside of marriage were primarily to women in their teens

• More than half of all unmarried mothers are now over the age of 25

Delayed Parenthood

• In the 1960s and 1970s, most women had their first child when they were in their early 20s

• By 1996, that age changed to their late 20s• In 2006, the average age of first-time mothers

in Canada was 29.3• In 2007, the number of live births to women

aged 30-34 surpassed that of women aged 25-29 for the first time

Delayed Parenthood

• Having children later than the established time has an impact on Canadian fertility rates because women who begin childbearing later in life have a shorter time in which to have children

• Emerging adults in Canada are delaying the transition to adulthood by pursuing more education and working later

• Couples are cohabiting first, then marrying later

Delayed Parenthood

• Couples who delay parenting tend to be well-educated and in a dual-income family with higher family income

• Women who delay childbearing are twice as likely to be married as those having children in their early 20s

• However, these socio-economic benefits are offset by health concerns

Delayed Parenthood• As fertility declines with age,

chances of having children decline and more couples are turning to assisted human reproduction

• The decreased fertility is contributing to the aging of Canadian society such that grandparents and parents will outnumber children

• In the future, the post-productive population that have retired will outnumber those working and paying taxes to support the social network

Infant Mortality

• Infant and child mortality rates in Canada have been steadily declining

• In 1901, 1 in 7 infants died before their 1st birthday, and 1 in 7 children who survived infancy died before their 14th birthday

• From 1960 to 1996, the number of infants who died in their 1st year declined from 27.3 per 1000 live births to 5.6

• This was the 2nd largest decline in the world

Infant & Child Mortality

• By 2006, infant mortality rate for Canada was 5.0 per 1000 live births

• This trend is not consistent across Canada – P.E.I. had the lowest in 2005 at 2.1, Nunavut had

the highest at 13.4• The child mortality rate has also declined • Governments and social-service agencies are

interested in mortality data to try to determine the cause for mortality and to better support parents and children

Infant & Child Mortality• Access to universal health care has reduced

infant and child mortality rates• Better education about prenatal and postnatal

care has given women a better understanding of how to care for themselves and their child(ren)

• Since Canadians are no longer afraid of losing the children they have, this is one factor of lower birth rates

Maternal Mortality Rate

• Maternal mortality rate is death while pregnant or within 42 days of the termination of pregnancy

• Improved prenatal and obstetrical care have reduced the number of deaths and maternal mortality rates have decreased

• The risks of pregnancy and childbirth associated with having a baby very early or very late in a woman’s reproductive years have decreased

Deciding to Have Children

• Whether to have a child, how many and when, involves desires and decisions influenced by cultural and religious beliefs that women and men have about children, family and community

• In the past, children were an inevitable part of married life as there were few options for birth control

• Now, couples can choose when and if to have children

Deciding to Have Children

• In 2004, 66% of Canadian children were planned

• Yet, on average, Canadian couples do not have as many children as they would like to have

• Children are viewed as a source of developmental satisfaction accompanied by steep monetary costs

Couple Relationships & Children

• Decisions to have children are made by individuals to meet their needs within the couple relationship

• The couple is also influenced by how they have been socialized about having children

Couple Relationships & Children

Factors to consider when planning to have children:

1) Having enough time for children

2) Recognizing the responsibilities involved with having children

3) Strength of couple’s relationship

Couple Relationships & Children• Individuals in couple relationships choose to

become parents because they feel that it will fulfill them as individuals and enrich their relationship

• They question whether having children will make them happier, if the answer is yes, then they have children