One for the country

The world is at a startling demographic milestone according to an article I read in The Australian.

Sometime soon, the global fertility rate will drop … even in China and India … below the point needed to keep population constant. It may have already happened …

Hungary, for example, is so panicked about the situation that Prime Minister Viktor Orban is pushing one of Europe’s most ambitious fertility agendas. Last year he expanded tax benefits for mothers so women under the age of 30 who have a child are exempt from paying personal income tax for life. That’s on top of housing and childcare subsidies as well as generous maternity leaves.

Blimey, how awesome. Go Hungary! It’s a nice change to see working mothers rewarded rather than feeling ashamed that they aren’t contributing enough in the workplace. The early years of working motherhood for me were harrowing, trying to furtively pretend I could still work long hours as I tried to live up to the have-it-all myth. Well, it’s not a myth, it just comes at a very high cost to both your bank balance for childcare and your stress levels.

Unfortunately Hungary’s policy hasn’t arrested its population decline.

Experts are now predicting the world’s population will peak at around 9.5 billion in 2061 and then start declining.

Technically that sounds like a good thing, especially for the environment. So why are experts so worried? Because an economy with fewer children will struggle to maintain its workforce and to finance pensions and healthcare for the growing ranks of elderly.

The Australian government made its most famous intervention in May 2004, when then treasurer Peter Costello urged couples to have three babies: “Have one for mum, one for dad, and one for the country.”

I let Peter down on that one, I only managed two, I left my run too late for a third.

It’s all very well to be urging people to have three babies, but all the measures in the world aren’t enough when the cost-of-living is so high that many people can barely afford to feed themselves, let alone a family. As for being able to afford to rent or buy a family home in Sydney … good luck with that.

The only reason I am on the property ladder is that I got in early, back when a two-bedroom house on a busy road in Petersham could be bought for $170,000.

I feel lucky every day that I have my own home .:. Even if it has a nasty mould spot growing in the corner of the living room …