Causes of Low Birth Rates

Causes of Low brook RatesChildless or Childfree?Actress Katherine Hepburn said, If motherhood doesnt interest you in that locationfore f both apartt do it She didnt, along with opera singer female horse C entirelyas, Queen Elizabeth I, and Oscar winning actress Helen Mirren , recently portraying Queen Elizabeth II.Melissa D spike heel, of the Family supplying Association, was recently quoted as saying that the falling birth rate was sliceially a reflection of the failure to provide women with adequate support. That may be so, but perhaps it is simpler than that. Perhaps more women want to induct looseness rather than hold a baby. Not that babies force outt be fun some of the date, but really, what would you choose worrying near ear infections, and wondering how to replace the front tyres on the car when you need to purchase a miniature pair of winter boots which cost more than the ones you byword in your own size at Clarkes or wondering about what to wear to your dinne r party and where to go on holiday this form?In the past women electron orbiting their thirties with no sign of a child would automatically be at the receiving end of thick streams of agreement for their plight. After all, dont all women have a robust maternal drive, this instinct, this burning desire to procreate? To experience for the best part of a year, haemorrhoids, backache and the raging hormones of pregnancy followed by the undeniably painful effort required to pass an infant the size of a melon by dint of an opening better suited to something four inches in diameter. Then thithers the post pregnancy weight gain, possible occasional piddle incontinence that means avoiding sneezing or coughing in public, and in private, your love life goes passel the pan.Population forecasts suggest that of those women who argon of accouchement age now, one in five may never have children. Some proportion of that will be due to in fetidness, but in that respect will also be those women who make the choice non to have children. Some bulk might think this is an abnormal decision base on an immature worldview. There will still be the know nods and, Youll change your mind later You are not truly a cleaning woman until you have given birth to a child.Dr C Hakim, senior(a) research fellow at the LSE said that researchers had been unable to account for the ontogeny number of childfree women, finding no parallel with infertility statistics. Her research showed that there are rising numbers of women choosing not to have children. The childless woman is not necessarily bewailing her fate.Dr Hakim points out that around 10% of women reach the age of 45 with no children. She says The whole idea of the childfree lifestyle is outset to be recognised by the media. Private feelings are being legitimised and people are beginning to feel that they are not being pervert in some way.That deviant behaviour was addressed in a Radio 4 Womans Hour Phone-In, with women disc ussing problems in the study as childfree employees. You might think that its the mothers that have all the problems, considering they are the ones who have to work flexi hours, coming in late after the aim run and having to rush off at the end of the school day. They are tied to school holidays, and are at the mercy of childminders in enclosure time. However, the childfree women phoning in were generally quite resentful of the fact that they could not feature advantage of later mornings as they had to cover the time the mums were not there.Victoria, a nurse, said, I have covered for maternity leave, Christmas and all the other multiplication that working mothers assumed was their right to be at home. I dont get any tax relief or benefits for not having children, and I would like a little recognition now and then.20% of the adult female population in Britain are childfree, and Sarah from Leatherhead felt that she was enured as a less useful citizen, despite holding down a deman ding job because she had no children. She said she was made to feel deficient and less important than the women with children, despite the fact that she often worked longer hours and seldom took time off.Why would childfree women would want to go on holiday in the summer with all those child-filled families? Surely the whole point is not to be around children? Apparently not. Childfree women do not necessarily dislike children it is in effect(p) parenthood they are rejecting, and being a parent certainly is relate with disrupted lives and financial insecurity.Those women who do decide to have children are having them later. In 2005 the average age at which women had their first child was 27.3 old age, with the highest rate of fertility being in their early 30s. Despite the rise in juvenile pregnancies which alters the average, bringing it down, this is still a rise of almost 4 years since the 1970s. Clearly women are choosing to stay childfree for longer, concentrating on care ers or travel, or just organising their lives before giving up their independence.Even then, its not all plain sailing Julia Roberts, 39, actress and mother of 2-year-old twins reportedly said I didnt realise that I would get no sleep at all. I am so sleep deprived I cant even stand, I have to sit down all the time.Could it be that some women who have children are ever so fairly jealous of their carefree childfree sisters?BibliographyDear, Melissa. (2002) Birth rate at all time lowhttp//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2570503.stm accessed 19 April 2007Hakim, Dr C (2004) Family-friendly policies are unlikely to influence the voluntary childlesshttp//www.lse.ac.uk/collections/pressAndInformationOffice/newsAndEvents/archives/2004/Family_FriendlyPR.htm accessed 19 April 2007Hepburn, Katherine.http//cheerfullychildless.com/CheeryQuotations.htm accessed 19 April 2007Murphy, J (Unknown) re Julia Roberts Childcare tips from celebrity mumshttp//www.gomamatoday.com/modernmama/parenting/celebchild caretips/?MemID=11accessed 19 April 2007 case Statistics, (2006)http//www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/PopTrends126.pdfaccessed 19 April 2007Swann, C (2001) Famous people without childrenhttp//www.suite101.com/article.cfm/childfree_by_choice/58081accessed 19 April 2007Womans Hour (2005) Childfree Womenhttp//www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2005_13_wed_01.shtmlaccessed 19 April 2007