Is the poblem of declining birth rate, which is happening in many countries worldwide, an inevitable problem?

Articles- THE STRAITS TIMES, WORLD (April 28 2007)
- BABY BLUES
- BABY BOOM

First of all, I do not agree that the problem of declining birth rate, which is a common scenario in many countries, is an inevitable problem. However, there are some causes to this problem that is more or less not within control of the government. One is the increase in highly educated women. This is a cause as according to a study, “40 per cent of highly educated women are still childless by the time they are 35.” This is out of the control of governments as a continual supply of educated people is required for maintenance of a booming economy in many countries. Another cause of a drop in birth rate in many countries worldwide is the high standard of living in many developed countries. The high standard of living gives people a feeling of economic instability and hence, inability to raise children when they cannot even provide for their own needs.

However, there are ways in which governments can cope with the problem of declining birth rate and several countries have achieved it. Two of the countries are France and Australia. One way is to change the thinking of educated women so that they are willing to consider motherhood. Another is the monetary benefit, which both France and Australia uses. France provide parents of newborns with up to six months off from work with nearly full pay and a guarantee of reclaiming their old jobs while Australia gives a baby bonus of A$4000 to mothers for each child born in Australia. Other incentives such as reduction in tax and discounts on necessities (e.g. public transportation, food, clothing etc) also appeal to mothers.

While there are certain causes to the problem of declining birth rate that are not within control of governments, governments can work on other areas to improve on the birth rate for their country. Hence, the problem of declining birthrate is not an inevitable problem for countries worldwide.