The COVID-19 pandemic was initially feared to bring about a baby boom. After being cooped up because of rigorous government stay-at-home protocols and with many employees preferring to work from home to avoid catching the virus, it was widely believed that American couples will turn up the heat in their bedrooms. Instead, the unexpected happened. The United States Census Bureau reported that the annual average birth per day took a 4.06% plunge at the end of December 2020. It meant that there were 417 fewer Americans born every day in 2020 compared to the previous year. The National Center for Health Statistics underscored that there is a continuing 2% average downtrend in the number of births for the past 6 years since 2015. Instead of helping, the pandemic has exacerbated the situation.
At a time of economic insecurity brought on by the pandemic and other disturbing events around the world, couples are choosing to dig in. Harmeet Kaur of CNN highlights that the pandemic has brought in the open the government’s seeming lack of support for parents having difficulty with childcare or remote education for their children. Rearing up and providing for a child has become even more difficult and demanding for would-be parents.
There is also the matter of choice. The pandemic has jolted couples to the importance of health and taking care of themselves first. With the possibility of death lurking just around the corner, life is to be savoured and personal goals realized first. Saving for that long-desired vacation and the ideal house or condominium unit to call one’s own has taken a new urgency. Any free time is spent with family members or together as a couple. As a result, the interest to have children is taking a backseat.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, the government saves about US$15.2 Billion annually from its interventions on the prevention of unplanned pregnancies. With the COVID pandemic unwittingly aiding its efforts, the government must be grinning from ear to ear.
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