Australia Going to the Kangaroos
Australia has joined a number of countries that have finally realized the problems associated with low birthrates. The Australian government now realizes that it needs to increase its birthrate in order for the country to survive and continue to prosper economically.
In hopes that couples will have more children, the government is offering help to parents through a family-friendly, five-year program offering $13.3 billion of incentives and assistance. The program awards couples $2,000 for each new baby born, maternity payments, family tax credits and assistance with daycare.
Peter Costello, Commonwealth treasurer, reports the two-child family will not be adequate to save Australia’s aging population problems, “If you can have children, it is a good thing to do,” he said, suggesting that every couple have at least three children. Australia’s birthrate is now 1.75 children per woman, well below replacement.
Australia has a population of only 20 million people, most living in the southeast coastal area. Population density is seven people per square mile, compared to 79 in the U.S., 357 in China, and 641 in Britain.
The Business Council of Australia maintains that the country needs to increase its population to 30 million by 2050 to sustain a strong economy.
“The impact of aging of the population means the ‘dependency’ ratio in Australia will double from six people of working age for every retiree in 1990 to just three working age people per retiree by 2028,” the Council argued. “The consequences will have an enduring impact on the way we live and work and profound implications for spending on health and social welfare.”
Demographers are concerned that there are no longer enough young people in Australia to take over and pay for the baby boomers who are near retirement.
(Patrick Goodenough, “Having Babies Seen As ‘Patriotic Duty,’” CNS News. 12 May 04)
Blame the Condom
In the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, a new law forbids parents with more than two children from running in local elections.
More than 500 local government officials are contesting this ruling claiming the law is “unconstitutional and undemocratic.” Why? Because it only limits the number of children officials may have while exempting state legislators and parliamentarians.
The group also asserts that their big families are not entirely their fault. Many maintain that they only have more than two children because of the failure of government-distributed condoms, and that the government is partly responsible for their family size. The condom-failure defense has already been brought before the court by a local mother-politician. Sadly, many aspiring politicians are now giving up their third child for adoption as a result of the ruling.
(Edited by Anthea Jonathan, “Condoms Get all the Blame,” News24.com, 22 July 2004, www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-l462_l561615,00.html)
Abstinence against AIDS
Randall Tobias, U.S. AIDS czar, defended the five-year, $15 billion anti-AIDS abstinence program recently, Tobias said he felt that encouraging teenagers in poor countries to delay becoming sexually active and promoting monogamy were far more effective means of preventing AIDS than distributing condoms.
Amb. Tobias bases his approach on the AIDS education program that has been so successful in Uganda. That program encourages abstinence among young people and monogamy among married couples. Condoms are limited to those most at risk, such as prostitutes.
According to UNAIDS, HIV rates in Uganda’s neighboring countries range between 20 to 40 percent of the adult population, while Uganda’s rate is much lower, The U.S. abstinence program will send $15 billion to 14 countries: Botswana, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Guyana, Haiti, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda. South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
(Deborah Cole, “U.S. global AIDS tsar defends focus on abstinence,” Agence France Presse, 22 April 2004)
RU-486
France has legalized the home use of RU-486 (also known as Mifepristone and Mifegyne) during the first five weeks of pregnancy. Officials say they no longer require women to be hospitalized to receive the drug.
Some 220,000 abortions are performed annually in France, one-third by using the abortifacient Mifegyne. Surgical abortion is allowed up to 12 weeks.
(“Francc approves home use of morning-after pill,” Expatic.com, 23 July 2004, www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=9826)
