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Editorial: Is there a baby boom coming?

As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc across the globe, the way people go about their business is evolving in an ever-changing manner. Everyone’s world is becoming smaller.
Powell River Peak editorial
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As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc across the globe, the way people go about their business is evolving in an ever-changing manner.

Everyone’s world is becoming smaller. Connections to what is and isn’t happening across Canada, throughout BC and in Powell River are taking place via television, internet and media publications, but personal interactions are limited to people living under the same roof.

If there is a bright side to being cut off from regular work or social life, surely it is having the opportunity to spend more time with family, lifemates or roommates. As days, weeks and possibly months pass before life can return to normal, hopefully living situations remain bright for all.

Having more time for family is high on the list of wants for most people. Now that it has become reality, two outcomes are possible, for couples anyway, that could have positive or negative impacts in the future: an increase in the divorce rate, and/or a baby boom. Let’s hope more results come from the latter.

Is being together for most of every waking moment a good thing or a bad thing? We’re about to find out.

Similar to most developed countries, Canada’s birth rate, now under 1.6 children per woman, is in steady decline. Currently, only immigration ensures Canada’s population will increase, or at least stay level with the replacement rate (2.1) required to avoid population decline, which many countries will face this century.

There are few pros compared to the multitude of cons regarding the current situation in the world, but more babies would be a bonus. As our general population ages, an influx of youth who will eventually join the workforce is imperative for our society to thrive in the decades to come, not just to pay taxes and take care of people who are living longer, but to keep Canada progressing economically and strengthen its position among world powers.

How much time can one, or two, spend cleaning the house, gardening or watching television anyway? And less talking means less arguing, so let’s hope for a baby boom once this horrible pandemic is defeated or subsides.

Life will be different for the foreseeable future: fewer or no interactions with friends and extended family, no sports to watch or partake in, a rationing of toilet paper, and smaller newspapers. These are all temporary, so make more phone calls, find a new hobby, cut back on the TP, and go to prpeak.com for more stories than can fit in our reduced page count due to business closures affecting advertising.

Life will return to normal someday. What do you want to keep doing more of once that happens? Probably not cleaning, watching TV (that’s getting old already, isn’t it?), or cutting the grass.

Making babies sounds like more fun, or at least going through the motions.