Centre-left Macron announced a 'demographic rearmament' as births hit post-war low. Facing a similar problem, Canadian politicians are silent
A population that can’t sustain itself will eventually cease to exist. And France, facing the lowest number of births it’s ever seen since the Second World War (at a rate of 1.86 per woman), is starting to wake up to that fact.
Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron announced his government will engage in a “demographic rearmament” to raise the country’s faltering birth rate. The actual plan behind this is a lot less exciting: he plans to revise parental leave and devote more resources to combatting infertility. Right now, France gives 16 weeks of maternity leave, with the optional extension of up to three years, but this is poorly-paid at 400 euros (C$586) per month.
Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.
Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
Don't have an account? Create Account
Macron would boost parental leave to six months. It’s a start, but probably not a game-changer alone. The rhetorical shift is noteworthy, though. Speaking to journalists, Macron said on Jan. 16 that the country would be stronger with the “revival of its birth rate.”
“We have children later and later; both male and female infertility has progressed a lot in recent years and has caused couples to suffer,” he said (in French), pointing out the current problems. “A major plan to fight against this scourge will be engaged to allow precisely this demographic rearmament.”
The key admission here is not that fertility decline is happening — this is well-known — but that it’s a problem that must be addressed. It’s a scourge.
This is probably self-evident to many people. Life is good when the economy is strong enough to support growth and innovation. That is difficult when a shrinking working-aged population must provide for a growing number of elderly. Automation can ameliorate the effects of depopulation, but it’s not a safe bet. Gun-toting robot dogs haven’t solved Ukraine’s Russia problem, for example — power is still very much a factor of how many boots one can put on the ground.
This newsletter tackles hot topics with boldness, verve and wit. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays)
By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of Platformed will soon be in your inbox.
We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again
Some say depopulation is good for the environment, but that’s not necessarily true: humans have always been able to use engineering to support a greater carrying capacity.
Solutions to the baby bust are evasive. France’s relatively strong social “safety net” hasn’t been enough to maintain a healthy 2.2 births per woman (in addition to mat leave, the government supports child-care programs, but these have their flaws). But what else can be done? As UnHerd writer Mary Harrington recently put it, you can’t “persuade humans to breed in captivity by showing them graphs.”
We’re left with trial and error. Japan’s late Shinzo Abe, for example, was especially conscious of his nation’s oncoming demographic doom. He tried to expand child care, incentivize marriage and ease the country’s workaholic culture. He did not succeed, but at least he didn’t give up.
Hungary’s Viktor Orbán has taken an ambitious swing at natal policy as well, his government most recently announcing a lifetime income tax exemption for any woman who becomes a mother before age 30. This is an upgrade from the previous policy, which only applied the exemption to mothers of four children. Hungary hasn’t turned around its birth rates yet, but the promise of an income-tax free life could change this.
Over in the Caucasus, even more unique solutions have been found. The patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church succeeded in prompting a baby boom in the country after 2007, when he began personally baptizing any third-born child in the nation.
What has made finding the solution to the baby bust more difficult is the political colour it’s taken on. It is primarily conservative politicians, or in the case of Georgia, institutions, leading the charge. Pro-natalist policy makers risk being unfairly being assigned the “far-right” or “hard-right” label from media and whatever interest groups (feminist ones usually) that care to pipe up.
Macron’s addition of a centrist left-liberal voice to the pro-natalist chorus is a welcome addition. But, like clockwork, he was accused of weaponizing women’s bodies and pulling a Handmaid’s Tale.
“The implementation of natalist policies, profoundly contrary to the autonomy of women, constitutes a worrying political and social regression,” said one women’s rights group in response to Macron’s speech. BBC, meanwhile, labelled this a rightward shift.
Motherhood, of course, isn’t being forced by onto anyone by Macron. French women have autonomy. French women don’t always have the means to financially support an addition to the family, however, and there’s nothing “regressive” about trying to ease that shortfall. To some feminists perhaps stuck in the 1980s, unfortunately, this is interpreted as oppression.
Unlike Macron, Canadian politicians seem allergic to discussing this problem, and it’s far worse here. Canadian women on average want 2.2 children, but on average they now only have 1.3. The nosedive is nearly absent from public debate despite a political consensus on the necessity of population growth (how and how fast is another story).
Where are our priorities? The federal government provides three times more in benefits to seniors than it does children. Liberals want to maximize the number of young mothers in the workplace; at the same time, they want older people to work less, having lowered the retirement age to 65. They ended income-splitting, which put most families in a worse financial position than they were before. They bet everything on cheap child care, which comes with the risk of leaving kids with long-term behavioral consequences. The status quo isn’t great.
We could use a demographic rearmament. If Macron can say it, surely we can, too.
National Post
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.
To mark the celebrations, many fashion brands release special collections. Here are five favourites from this year's drops.
Options according to preferences, uses and budgets
Paula wanted a hair colour that would blend in with her natural silver to avoid touching up her root colour.
Three buzzed-about beauty products we tried this week.
Top-rated base, mid and outer layers for all kinds of adventures