Gender Issues in the Contemporary Context: Fertility and declining birth rates

Résumé du document

One issue closely related to women is today at the heart of the public debate in the majority of the industrialized countries: the problem of declining birth rates. Reports, books, articles have been flourishing on the question since the past few years: while people used to worry about the overpopulation of the planet, we now fear that our countries are shrinking and that people are failing to replace themselves. What does that mean for women? What are the reasons for women to have fewer children than before? At a time when women strive for gender equity, want the same opportunities as men, where does motherhood stand?

There are a complex variety of interrelating factors that play a role in the fertility question. In his paper, McDonald focuses on three main causes of low fertility: the costs of having children, the reluctance of having children when the future does not seem stable and secure enough, and the "uneven nature of gender equity". In her book Oh no, we forgot to have children!, Deirdre Macken adds to the discussion the spread of contraception and the evolution of women's mentality on the issue of motherhood. Alison Barnes summarizes the factors in four different groups: "costs", "stability", "work vs. family" and "culture and norms". It would be tedious to go on, but those few examples show that, although the causes of low fertility are multiple and complex, it is possible to identify some of them.

In her book, Macken argues that motherhood has become an issue of choice for women, in particular because of the spread of contraception. After the pill was made available in Australia in the sixties, the fertility rate dropped from 3.5 babies per women to 2.9 babies in only five years . A major consequence of this control over births is that women tend to postpone their first child. According to Weston and Parker : "the median age of married women giving birth to their first child of this union was 25.3 in 1981, 29.3 in 1991 and 29.8 in 2001, although some of these women would have had children from previous relationships". For me, 30 years old seems a "normal" age to have a first kid, whereas 23, as was my mother when she had her first child, would be "too young". What I feel as "the right age" is however more of a social construct than a biological fact. Indeed, by postponing the birth of their first child, women are restricting their "window of opportunities", the period during which they are able to conceive without special medical assistance. The postponing of children is also closely linked to the increased fluidity of the relationships and the trend to get married later. Indeed, Macken points out that the average age for a woman to get married in 1971 was 21 years old, whereas in 2001 it was 27 years old .

Extraits

[...] Op.cit. p.17-19. Macken. Op.cit. p.106- McDonald. Op.cit. p.16. Macken. Op.cit. p.208. [...]

[...] is the fertility rate falling in Australia?” in Family Matters. Australian Institute of Family Studies. N°63 Spring/Summer 2002. McDonald, Peter. Fertility in Australia: Evidence, Causes and Policy Responses” in People and Place. Vol.8, p.6-21. Macken, Deirdre, Oh no, we forgot to have children! How declining birth rates are reshaping our societies. Allen and Unwin Barnes, Allison. Low Fertility : a discussion paper. Department of Family and Community Services. Feb p Op.cit. p.16. Weston and Parker. [...]

[...] is the fertility rate falling in Australia?” in Family Matters. Australian Institute of Family Studies. N°63 Spring/Summer 2002. p.7. Macken. Op.cit.p See McDonald, Op.Cit. for his presentation of the “rational choice theory”. See Weston and Parker. Op.cit. p.9-10. Macken. Op.cit. p.9. Indeed, it is very important to note that the phenomenon described in this paper are related to a certain sub-group of women with specific characteristics, including level of education, social class, religion, geography McDonald. [...]

[...] Gender Issues in the Contemporary Context: Fertility and declining birth rates Fertility and declining birth rates One issue closely related to women is today at the heart of the public debate in the majority of the industrialized countries: the problem of declining birth rates. Reports, books, articles have been flourishing on the question since the past few years: while people used to worry about the overpopulation of the planet, we now fear that our countries are shrinking and that people are failing to replace themselves. [...]

[...] Since our analysis is focusing mostly on educated, working women[10], the balance of family and work is crucial in understanding why women tend to have less children. Macken criticizes the capitalist societies for spreading a work culture that is not “family-friendly”, particularly blaming the long working hours and the reluctance to take into account the employee's family lives as functions of the work environment. Without the possibility to combine harmoniously work and family, at least in the early age of the child, women are faced with a choice: focusing on the child or on the job. [...]