Monday, December 05, 2005

What do we need to have babies?

According to recent Census, Canada’s population growth is less than desirable. Many Canadian women are choosing to have only one child or none at all. These are mostly the career women in our country.

The experts believe that the appropriate age for motherhood is between 25-35 for most women. This is to ensure the opportunity of education, employment and financial stability prior to parenthood. However, many educated and employed women in Canada do not get married before the age of 27 or 28 and therefore, don’t have the opportunity of motherhood before the age of 30. This reduces the safe fertility window to only 5 years.

Although it is possible to safely have 2 kids in a 5-year window, many women choose to have only one or none at all. So, aside from having a responsible family man with good genes, what else do we need to have babies?

Many of us feel the need for more education in our early 30s and that takes away our window of safe pregnancy. Some ambitious women have to choose between career advancement and motherhood. There is almost nothing that can be done in that case.

Many of us feel the need to stay with our new-borns longer than the 6-months legislative paid parental leave. Most daycare programs only take children that are over 2 years old. Parents who choose a parental leave more than 6 months should be eligible for financial compensation or job security. Currently this is an obstacle.

Many of us are afraid of private daycare costs. Daycare programs should be funded so that every parent has access to a local public daycare. This can reduce the waiting lines from 2 years to perhaps 6 months.

Many of us simply can’t get pregnant. Since there are not too many orphaned children in Canada, the only choice is to adopt a child from China or Africa. This process costs approximately $30,000 per child for taxes, fees, etc. The government should provide tax return options (e.g up to $20,000) for parents who adopt from abroad.

And finally, many single women in Canada whose pregnancy window has passed but they are financially eligible for parenthood may not be eligible for adoption. This is another legal battle that should be solved for single mothers who wish to experience the wonderful world of motherhood.

5 Comments:

At 5:56 a.m., Blogger Jackal said...

So what are the chances for a normal woman to have-it-all? Is it worth being a super-mom? or it will take its toll along the way somewhere? Many career minded moms still feel the guilt of not paying enough attention to their kids no matter how far they stretch their abilities.

 
At 8:45 a.m., Blogger The City Gal said...

Well, let's face it. No matter how hard our parents tried to be there for us, we still blame them for our short-comings! At least my brothers do!

But aside from that, in today's world, for an average and above average family, you need two incomes. It is not much of a choice. Women have to maintain their status in the workplace.

I believe with one (max. 2) kids it is possible to be a great mother and a career woman. The new society has made it possible.

 
At 5:12 a.m., Blogger Jackal said...

As you said, TODAYS WORLD is quite different from what it used to be, even 20 years ago.

The traditional roles of the bread-winner and the house-keeper have never been as blurred and entwined as now. I would personally embrace it and reckon it’s as balanced as it gets.

2 partners, both partaking in the motherhood and fatherhood roles; that’s ideal, innit?!

 
At 5:14 a.m., Blogger Jackal said...

What's this comment moderation then?!

 
At 9:23 a.m., Blogger The City Gal said...

Well, there you go.
See? You can even be mom nowadays. Isn't that sweet? :)

Aside from that, I think this is how things have been for more than 30 years. Your mother was a teacher, right?

What has changed now is that they let the fathers in the delivery room, they allow them to take parental leave and you see many young fathers with a little baby on their backs, these days.

The fact that women give birth to the offspring doesn't mean that they will have to carry them for another 20 years.

 

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