The falling birth rate

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What can be done to reserve the trend of falling birth rates in Armenia? Do we go back to old-fashioned money-for-babies tactic used in the early Quebec years?

 

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By Valeria Zakharyan

 

 

During Soviet times 70,000-80,000 babies were born in Armenia every year.

During the 10 years since independence, the birth rate has halved and

33,000-34,000 babies are born in Armenia annually. That is why the natural

increase in the population has fallen by almost 35 per cent. This, along with

the rapid development of migration processes, is leading us to the brink of a

demographic crisis.

 

The main reasons for the fall in the birth rate are known. First of all,

there is the mass exodus from the country of men of reproductive age. Some of

them form new families or simply promote demographic figures, but not their

native figures.

 

Those women who have managed to keep their husbands are not having children.

Many of them use various types of contraceptives, but as we found out,

Armenian women are quite conservative and prefer abortions, the number of

which is still high in Armenia.

 

The open desire not to become a mother is primarily due to the fact that this

"main destiny of women" is financially out of the question. Officially,

giving birth is free of charge in our country. The state estimated the cost

of this at 27,000 drams [approximately 48 dollars, presumably per birth] and

this money is transferred to maternity hospitals, but not regularly.

Certainly this money is not enough. For example, the price of a normal birth

in the West is 300 US dollars. According to some women who have recently had

babies, they spent almost the same in Armenia. If we add to this the cost of

a baby once it is born, it becomes clear why many families opt not to have

one.

 

The fall in the birth rate is extremely dangerous for a country with a

clearly marked tendency towards ageing of its population. Demographers and

sociologists have established that there has been no positive change in this

sphere. Another rather alarming tendency is that against the backdrop of this

sharp fall in the birth rate, the age coefficient of women in childbirth has

also fallen. One hundred women of reproductive age - from 15 to 49 - have

only 112 children, whereas 215 children are necessary for the necessary

equality of generations.

 

Doctors say that over the last six years, the number of post birth

complications for women and their new-born babies has also increased. This is

first of all a result of a diet that is not balanced and the anaemia from

which many women suffer. The high death rate for children during the first

week of life is also connected with their mothers' state of health.

 

About 2,000 fewer children were born during the first six months of 2001 in

comparison with the previous year. This is a sad consequence of our social

difficulties and uncertainty about the future, which make parents opt not to

have children.

 

But today, on the eve of the New Year, we would like to mention something

good. For example, 1,205 children have been born in one of the biggest

maternity hospitals in Yerevan. We would like to think that all our children

will be happy.