Canada’s birth rate fell to 10.5 births for every 1,000 people, down by 25% in the last decade of 20th century. Women are having the same 1.5 babies that they’ve been having for the past 10 years but...

Canada’s birth rate fell to 10.5 births for every 1,000 people, down by 25% in the last decade of 20th century. Women are having the same 1.5 babies that they’ve been having for the past 10 years but there are fewer women in the fertile age group 25 to 30. Experts point to an array of factors, including increasing education for women, the urbanization of society and the breakdown in family units. Where a new generation was born every 20 years, it’s now closer to 30. When you increase the time between generations, there will be fewer children. All agree that the fertility rate has seen a decline over the last 40 years. One factor is higher education that has given women career opportunities that caused women to delay pregnancies until their careers have been established. Education has also given women better knowledge about birth control products. The move to urban living has an effect as agrarian societies, babies are viewed as a source of future labour supply but in urban settings, children are more likely to be economic drains on their parents. Urban parents rely on pension plans, rather than their children. Many working class women are putting off children because they simply can’t afford to support them. Family change, such as divorce, cohabitation and looseness of relationships, comes with fewer children because there’s less security.