Oh, Baby! | B.C. demographics | B.C. child care

Vanessa Richmond

| May 6, 2009

Image by: Lindsay Siu

Birth rates are dropping dramatically in B.C., and soon immigration won’t be able to fill the labour gap. Will local businesses get serious about creating kid-friendly work environments before it’s too late?

The boomer show is about to bust in B.C. Soon the curtain will open to reveal a slowly emptying set as the aging cast members are drawn offstage by retirement’s twinkling lights. We’re a province accustomed to dramas of many kinds, but this is a spectacle we’ve never seen before. And the question on the minds of spectators and stagehands alike is, Just how long can we keep the show on the road?

The boomers are still hogging the labour limelight in both B.C. and Canada, but in 2011, according to Statistics Canada, the percentage of the Canadian population that works will peak, then start to go down. As the first boomers reach age 65 in two years, the graceful shuffle we see now will break into a trot as record numbers of workers take their final bows.

By 2017, according to one Statistics Canada model, that trot will turn into a sprint, and in the decade from 2021 to 2030 “there will be a huge shrinkage every year,” says Brian Bemmels, a professor of labour relations and human resources at UBC’s Sauder School of Business.

In a typical year in that decade, about 540,000 Canadians will leave the workforce and 360,000 will enter, leaving a gap of about 180,000 people. “That’s large, really large,” says Bemmels. “To put it in perspective, as far back as we’ve kept statistics, the labour force has grown. We’re accustomed to progress, development and advancement, and a growing labour force is a key part of that.”

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Spot On! Great article

Submitted by FlexMom (not verified) on Tue, 2009-05-26 09:20.

Spot On! Great article however, there is one key point missing - flexible employers! I am a 36 year old woman and have 2 young children (6 &3) and I really feel for people women who really do want to get back to work after taking their maternity leave but are unable to because a) their employer wont' even look at the possibility of job sharing, flex time or part time options or b) because the cost of daycare far outweighs what their salary is. In the end it costs women more money to go to work and pay for childcare then it does to just stay at home. I am one of the very very lucky ones where I have been able to negotiate with my employer to allow me to work a flexible part time schedule around my husband's shift work. In the end we don't have daycare costs as either I am at home or my husband is. We would definitely not have been able to have this wonderful option if my employer wasn't willing to be flexible and open to new ideas. There needs to be co-operation here - employers need to think outside the box and the government needs to set up and subsidize childcare or start full time pre-school and kindergarten at least. Asking families, especially in this economy to pay $1200-$1400 a month for childcare just isn't manageable. In the end we all loose, as less women are contributing their talent to the economy and less babies are being born to add joy to the lives of families and help stabilize our workforce in the future.

I live in downtown Vancouver

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 2009-05-22 06:41.

I live in downtown Vancouver and for us at this point it boils down to basic economics. $1400 on average for Child Care with 2 year waiting list, that's $16,800 per year for Child Care alone. That's a second mortgage, when you compare that to $154 per month in QC. I've had many friends sell their BC house and move back East in order to afford a better life style for their growing family.

I really believe birthrate

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2009-05-20 17:22.

I really believe birthrate declines are in large part to the fact that the courts have allowed children to be absolutely devestating weapons by our legal system should a man and woman decide their relationship is not working. The stories about the wrath of the courts and or their allowance for (mostly) women to extort, terrorize, false testify with impunity have simply made children too dangerous. Essentially every human being has a natural interest in having children. remove the abusive legal threat and many babies will be born. Work hard, save your money and enjoy the North American dream but dear god help you if you have had children and are involved with a vindictive partner. You may very well lose everything including your good name, and virtually forever as the disgruntled party often enjoys excessive support fees and refuses to even try to support themselves ( why would they). This reality in effect tragically devestates your next new family who must try and live with the financial burden of a past failed reationship . For the record I have never been married but have been through a common law court handled separation. We lived completely seperately with regard to finances and she did appologize for needing to take as much as she possibly could from me..... Which was very thoughtful of her.

Interesting comment, Anon.

Submitted by jbucher on Mon, 2009-05-25 08:17.

Interesting comment, Anon. We'd be interested in publishing it in the letters to the editor. Please contact me at my first intial + last name AT canadawide.com. John Bucher Editor, BCBusiness Online