From a biological point of view, the birth rate is about the need to perpetuate the species. From a political point of view, this is about the interests of the survival of the parties and the preservation of the number of high-paying positions. From a human perspective, however, things are completely different.
The historical-biological context
During the war, it was normal for many children to be born in each family because the sons were sent to war. But we must also highlight the human psychological factor that emphasized the need to increase the birth rate in the context of a destructive factor such as war. Therefore, the war was the one that killed us, but also the one that psychologically manipulated our biological desires without realizing it.
World War II showed people that the destructive power of wars is manifested not only on the part of those who lose but also on the part of those who win. That is, in a world that was becoming more and more cohesive, war was no longer limited to a border but had come to swallow the whole world. For this reason, peace was installed and policies and parties that supported any nationalist ideas were discouraged.
The birth rate after World War II was influenced by policies meant to repopulate and balance things in the world, and to regain human strength for defense if any other conflict appears.
Although democracy has been an idea propagated in Europe since 1957, it made sense and gained admiration on the continent only after 1990 after the disintegration of the USSR and the independence of many countries that step by step aligned with the European standards of government. Even if human rights were promoted after the war, they were practically non-existent in a state where the judiciary system did not have the necessary mechanisms to guarantee these rights. Therefore, it was only with the advent of governments that admired the Western European policies that changes in the judiciary system began to guarantee human rights, including the freedom to conceive a child.
Birth rate and work
Most politicians think in numbers, but people think in needs and problems. If in the past people followed the idea of giving birth so there were enough children to work to develop a country, now, many robots have taken over from the work of people in factories, mines and so on, that there is no need for so many people to work for the lifestyle we have now.
If before it took dozens of people to take care of a land with grains, now a modern tractor and one man is able to do the work of those people very quickly. So, if the birth rate were as high as the politicians want, in the current work and education systems that are not adapted to the new social needs, many would not have a job.
Access to information
Technology has brought with it access to information, which in the past was a luxury, and so was the access to education. Because of this, a lot of people did not know the implications of birth, physiological and psychological complications, etc. Now that technology has allowed access to information, many people have learned the difficulties they may face not only during pregnancy but also after the child was born. People began to discuss not only the joy of having a child but also the fears, responsibilities, and costs.
COSTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES AS A PARENT
How much does it cost to give birth in Romania?
Giving birth in the state hospitals in Romania costs between 3000 and 4000 lei (600 – 800 euros). But if you are a couple who thinks about the risks of mother and child during and after birth, you will opt for a private hospital.
Why? Because there are countless cases in which people have entered state hospitals to be treated for something and got countless problems from the hospital. For example, one of the known cases is that of the journalist who entered the hospital with leukemia and got from the hospital the pseudomonas bacillus that killed him.
The official statistics say that at least 10,000 Romanians have been infected in hospitals each year. So when it comes to birth, about the health of both mother and child, we will try to avoid any risks.
In private, however, the birth costs between 5550 lei and 7950 lei (1100 – 1600 euros), depending on whether it is by natural or cesarean section and only with a health card. For those without a health card, a birth costs between 8750 lei (natural birth) and 11,150 lei (cesarean section) (1800 – 2250 euros).
These costs are related only to the birth and not to all the supplements and procedures, the controls that must be done during and after pregnancy. Because, if the child has problems and has to stay in the hospital for a longer time, a minimum of 750 lei/day (150 euros/day) of hospitalization will be paid, and if the mother has problems and has to stay in the hospital longer, a minimum of 1000 lei/day (200 euros/day) will be paid.
To understand how much this is consider that the average salary in Romania is 3176 lei/month (641 euros/ month).
Considering all this, it should not be strange to us when people think and plan to conceive a child.
The future
At some point, it was customary for at least one of the children to stay with the parent until old age. This was because of the governing styles that severely restricted the freedom to move. As a human being, you were forced to reconcile with living in the country where you were born.
Currently, because people have great freedom of movement, many children choose to live in other countries when they reach adulthood. They choose a country where they can follow their dreams, where there is a better standard of living, where they can find a suitable job, and so on. Under these conditions, although many of the children will help their parents from abroad, and despite their talks grace to the new means of communication, the parents will remain alone in old age. This is another reason the younger generations think more before conceiving a child.
With all this, it must be noted that planing a child is good because in this way the children will be expected and wanted and not an escape plan for old age and an unwanted surprise.
Do we still have time for children if we have a job?
If we have a full-time job, the problem of the time we spend with the child arises. If before women were housewives and took care of children, today the costs and lifestyle emphasize the need for the contribution of both spouses to the family budget. In the context in which the parents work 8h / day, plus 1-2h spent on the way to work and back, 1h / day is lost on personal hygiene and 1h for the preparation of the meal, how much time do the parents have left to spend with their children?
Many still choose to conceive a child, which is beautiful and admirable. But couples in developed countries are somewhat limited to one child. Why? Because living in these countries and making your child happy means aligning yourself with the lifestyle in these countries, that is, giving him a school, then a college until he/she is becoming an adult.
How much does education cost in Romania?
Even if governments keep telling us that education is free, parents still have costs. In Romania, a state school costs 1400 lei per year (230 euros/year). If you do not have time to deal with the child’s education and you want to give him a private school, the expenses (according to data from 2010) increase between 2500 euro/year to 8950 euro/year in high school.
Entering family life
The increase in life expectancy came with changes in lifestyle. In 1900, women married at the age of 20-22, and the age at which children were conceived was 20-21. In America, for example, in 1970 the average age at which women gave birth to their first child was 21.4 years compared to 2018 when the average age increased to 26.9 years. Currently, most young people enter into serious relationships in order to start a family at the age of 26-28. This will make the birth of the first child in a family at the age of 27 – 32 of the women.
Crises and instability
Changes in family life come not only from changes in lifestyle, financial development but also from understanding the responsibility of raising a child in an unstable society. For example, financial crises cause job losses and difficulties in raising and educating a child; health crises create panic, insecurity, and fear among people regarding both their child and themselves; political crises come with economic instability and management problems; energy crises come with increases in the maintenance prices of basic needs such as water, gas, electricity; the food crises, that come with rising food prices and the disappearance of some foods from the market.
Conclusions
Although generations past the age of 45 often blame the younger generations for the choices made in family life, we believe that many of them have understood over time from discussions with their children, or from this article, that children are a moral, financial, psychological and physical responsibility of people. And we can’t blame them for the choice they made.
And as nations, we cannot be so selfish to limit our children’s right to choose when to make a child and how many, just because we do not want to receive immigrants to make us bread and because we do not trust our children to invent robots to do the work.
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