Pandemic curbs Europe's birthrate

Thanks, I should have linked to the late, great Hans Rosling. Gapminder has been a goto tool for me when involved in discussions where we want to test hypotheses quickly.

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They’ll combo it with the Great Reset that the online loons at least here in Finland are all het up about.

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I’m hoping that’s one of the positive outcomes of this pandemic. People are certainly going to be a lot more leery of institutional elder care and that may lead to innovative and compassionate solutions.

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Familiarity breeds… well it doesn’t, apparently.

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Maybe it’s just my lack of imagination but without a whole lot of new caretakers getting trained and a lot of government subsidies (and tax increases) to pay for it, I’m really struggling to think of a solution that doesn’t rely either on the efficiencies of group home settings or helper robots.

The helper robot in the movie Robot and Frank was great, but we could also wind up with the unstoppable robot bed from Roujin Z.

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Band Name!!! :heart_eyes:

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Especially those who already had children who were now home 24/7.

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It’s not a panacea, but home health aids have seem to have gotten a boost in recent years. Unfortunately, this doesn’t address people who require more institutional or palliative care, but it does seem to be a decent alternative to the traditional retirement home. This article cites statistics that seem to substantiate my anecdotal assumptions about it being a growing field.

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The thought of chasing the toddlers through the Hamster-Dome with a neverending spritzer of 80% isopropyl alcohol, visiting the grands through heavy isolation…it just swells the prophylactic organ.

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One of the horrifying truths about the pandemic is that I know at least 3 different stories of pregnant women dying of Covid and premature babies being delivered via emergency cesarean surgery. It’s just unpredictable enough to make people afraid of trying.

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Does the decline in birth rate suspiciously mirror the reduction in tryst derived “accidents” as lovers cannot meet with the husband is home?

It is France…

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I can def see why people dont, I have a friend who has been with his partner for 20 years in all that time they have all ways lived apart for work purposes, and so they only have tiny uk flat with an open plan living kitchen dining space like 20 foot long and 8 foot wide, with both of them working from home, He had unexpected got a job in their home town for the 1st time ever and had not long been living back at home full time rather than just weekends, I know they have struggled to do two zoom calls at the same time, and attend work meetings as they just dont have the space.

We have ended up forming a bubble, and my mate spends all his weekends at my house, so they can give each other space. As they are not used to seeing each other so much, or having to live on top of each other with them both working form home and being in the same room 24/7.

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The birthrate decline during the pandemic isn’t surprising when you consider the mass unemployment and economic uncertainty that it has caused, and that the economic effects of this situation have fallen hardest on younger adults- who would be the ones making the decision about starting and continuing pregnancy.

Birth rates always decline during difficult times- people make choices in the context of what’s going on at the time, and understandably they don’t tend to want to add all the stress and disruption of pregnancy on top of other stressful, uncertain events.

Overall, a worldwide trend of people choosing to delay or cancel births would seem to be a positive outcome, as fewer people consuming like rich westerners is unequivocally positive at this stage in the climate crisis.

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There are 4 new little ones scheduled to arrive in my circle of friends within the next two months, starting tomorrow. Which led me to assume a quite different scenario.

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