Wanted: women who have babies
When my mother was my age she had 2 babies. One was my sister, she was 3 and the other one myself. I was 1. My mum believes that I am waiting too much time to have a baby, focusing only on my career and personal development. We talk every other day and by the end of our conversation she almost always tries to know more about “my plans in life”, as she says. She means, my plan to have a child. These conversations with my mum have led me to think about why women have fewer babies in some parts of the world.
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I come from the low-fertility Mediterranean belt. Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal. This is a region with a serious baby deficit. 30 years ago in my home country, Spain, women were on average having their first baby at the age of 25, today, women have their first child when they are 30. Not only have women postponed the age, but they are also having fewer babies. One, maybe two. In particular, the region I come from, Catalonia, had the lowest fertility rate in a developed economy some years ago. In the US, the baby situation looks much better, mainly because of the high fertility rates of Latino women in this country. Immigration plays an important role in Europe too.
But, are decreasing fertility rates a problem? A personal one? A social problem? Aren’t we all about choice and individual freedoms? Yes, we are. However, the Mediterranean belt not only has a baby deficit but also a surplus of pensioners. Again, going back to Spain, today there is a ratio of two retired people for each active one. Europe’s population will fall by 7 million by 2050. The shortage of children puts in danger pensions, innovation and undermines economic dynamism. It is a problem. In other parts, though, in the developing world, the problem is the exact opposite, how to reduce the number of children that women have.
The reasons behind the decreasing fertility are diverse and complicated. The cost of opportunity, the worry of loosing the job after maternity, the wish of many women to be on the top…Somebody said that almost all male CEOs have beautiful wives and kids but most women CEOs are single and bitter.
Women like myself, I would say accumulating a large number of degrees, willing to have a career want to have babies too, some of them do it now, others prefer to wait some more years. Other women, who have had fewer opportunities in life than the females in this room, can’t afford having a family. For those who prefer to wait in order to succeed professionally and for those who have to wait, solutions have to be found.
There is a large list of possible policies that aim at increasing fertility rates (tax breaks, more kindergartens, flexible working time). Families having a baby for the first time receive a government allowance of about $4000 in Spain. In Portugal, the Prime Minister recently proposed to link taxes pay for pensions to the number of children the person has (having more babies will mean paying less taxes). These measures are all necessary. But I am going to ask for something bigger than that: I am going to ask first for a cultural change. I would like men to start thinking like women. This is difficult, but not impossible. As a matter of fact, us, women, we manage to think like them specially when we try to reach the top in business or government. Tax breaks, more allowances will only partially work without their help. I am asking male leaders and male followers to try to think in female terms. If leadership does not support and believe in that, change won’t happen.
My mum will call me tomorrow. I am going to tell her that I am waiting for the cultural change.
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I come from the low-fertility Mediterranean belt. Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal. This is a region with a serious baby deficit. 30 years ago in my home country, Spain, women were on average having their first baby at the age of 25, today, women have their first child when they are 30. Not only have women postponed the age, but they are also having fewer babies. One, maybe two. In particular, the region I come from, Catalonia, had the lowest fertility rate in a developed economy some years ago. In the US, the baby situation looks much better, mainly because of the high fertility rates of Latino women in this country. Immigration plays an important role in Europe too.But, are decreasing fertility rates a problem? A personal one? A social problem? Aren’t we all about choice and individual freedoms? Yes, we are. However, the Mediterranean belt not only has a baby deficit but also a surplus of pensioners. Again, going back to Spain, today there is a ratio of two retired people for each active one. Europe’s population will fall by 7 million by 2050. The shortage of children puts in danger pensions, innovation and undermines economic dynamism. It is a problem. In other parts, though, in the developing world, the problem is the exact opposite, how to reduce the number of children that women have.
The reasons behind the decreasing fertility are diverse and complicated. The cost of opportunity, the worry of loosing the job after maternity, the wish of many women to be on the top…Somebody said that almost all male CEOs have beautiful wives and kids but most women CEOs are single and bitter.
Women like myself, I would say accumulating a large number of degrees, willing to have a career want to have babies too, some of them do it now, others prefer to wait some more years. Other women, who have had fewer opportunities in life than the females in this room, can’t afford having a family. For those who prefer to wait in order to succeed professionally and for those who have to wait, solutions have to be found.
There is a large list of possible policies that aim at increasing fertility rates (tax breaks, more kindergartens, flexible working time). Families having a baby for the first time receive a government allowance of about $4000 in Spain. In Portugal, the Prime Minister recently proposed to link taxes pay for pensions to the number of children the person has (having more babies will mean paying less taxes). These measures are all necessary. But I am going to ask for something bigger than that: I am going to ask first for a cultural change. I would like men to start thinking like women. This is difficult, but not impossible. As a matter of fact, us, women, we manage to think like them specially when we try to reach the top in business or government. Tax breaks, more allowances will only partially work without their help. I am asking male leaders and male followers to try to think in female terms. If leadership does not support and believe in that, change won’t happen.
My mum will call me tomorrow. I am going to tell her that I am waiting for the cultural change.
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