I'd rather be anti-poverty

Maybe, just maybe, abortion rates would drop if we had stronger social safety nets in place and workplaces that didn't penalize women for being mothers. I say this after looking at Russia's abortion rates for last year:

About 1.6 million women had a termination last year, a fifth of them under the age of 18, while about 1.5 million gave birth, said Vladimir Kulakov, vice president of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences in Moscow. "Many more'' abortions weren't reported, Kulakov said in the government's official newspaper.

"The appearance of a first child pushes many families into poverty,'' Kulakov said today. "Potential parents first try to start a career, stand on their feet and so forth.''

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the ensuing hyperinflation and economic contraction wiped out savings and incomes and discouraged couples from having children. Russians had about 23 percent more abortions than U.S. women in 2004, while the former communist country's population is half the size.

[...]

The average monthly wage in Russia, Europe's most populous country and home to one of the world's biggest clusters of billionaires, is about $300 and one in four people live below the poverty line, according to government statistics.

Woman lack job prospects, Kulakov said. Careers traditionally favored by Russian women, such as in education and medicine, no longer pay a decent salary, which leads to fewer births and ultimately a smaller population, he said.

-- "Russian Abortions Exceed Births As Couples Avoid Cost," Bloomberg News, Aug 23, 05

What is also striking is how birthrates rise when there is societal framework in place to encourage parenting without economic penalities:

Paternity leave schemes in Denmark and Iceland are among the most generous in the world - and new statistics prove the benefits to society, experts say.

Last year, nearly all Icelandic fathers used their entitlement to three months off work on 80% of their salary.

The new paternity law came into effect in 2002. Iceland now has Europe's second highest birth rate after Turkey.

-- "Quality Time Thrills Nordic Dads," BBC, June 28, 05

World affairs site Cafe Babel debunks the idea that parental leave will wreck the economy:

According to estimates, over 80% of Icelandic fathers are taking advantage of their entitlement to paternity leave. This way, both women and men are able to co-ordinate family life and work. More importantly, from the employer’s point of view, it also makes hiring a young woman just as “risky” as hiring a young man at child-rearing age. Concern that the system might lead to high unemployment among young people has proven not to be the case, with unemployment consistently low at around 3%.

But what price are Icelanders paying for the luxury of producing so many new citizens? Again, statistics are surprising. In relative terms, Iceland spends a significantly higher share of its GDP on child and family benefits than the EU average. Nevertheless, at 19.5% of the GDP, overall spending in the social sector is far below the EU average.

-- "Iceland's EU Aging Remedy," July 21, 05

So what is my point here? My point is that it's asinine to claim to be pro-family unless you are also pro-policies that allow for flexible parental leave for both parents, and for social networks that eliminate the terrible choice of solvency v. parenthood.

Comments

[Becky]

Last year, nearly all Icelandic fathers used their entitlement to three months off work on 80% of their salary.

The new paternity law came into effect in 2002. Iceland now has Europe's second highest birth rate after Turkey.

That's awesome, and a wonderful rebuttal to the claims that feminism/secularism/liberalism/whatever has caused the decline in birth rate in Europe. Liberalism is pro-family!

[drunken monkey]

I'm currently fascinated with Iceland, after seeing a documentary show looking at it and Newfoundland -- the former became independent at about the same time the latter joined Canada. The comparison isn't parallel, of course, but it's particularly striking when looking at the cod fishery for each place (as in, Iceland still has one).

I've been thinking about it a lot, considering the navel-gazing Newfoundland and Labrador has been doing about its place in Canada over the past year.

Their policy on paternity leave and parental support adds an interesting new dynamic to it. I think it's fair to say a higher percentage of women in the province stay at home than in the general Canadian population; being self-employed in the fishery makes it easier, and some economic situations make it harder (my mother stays at home because she likely wouldn't make enough to break even after paying for a second vehicle and day care).

Meanwhile, it's not unusual for fathers to be gone from the home for significant periods of time, either due to the fishery or because they have to leave the province to work.

I'd imagine that being able to arrange your work life around your family life would make a difference that might not be seen in Newfoundland and Labrador, as family-oriented a place as it is.