ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — At 28 years old, Graham Downey-Sutton is on the waiting list to have a vasectomy.
He and his partner, April Legge, like children, but with their busy work and school schedules, the Corner Brook couple has little time to think about adding to their family.
And they don’t foresee their decision changing — especially given the bleak economic outlook for this province.
“We’re going paycheque to paycheque…,” said Downey-Sutton, who has a nursing degree, is pursuing a Bachelor of Social Work degree from the University of Victoria and is paying his way through university.
“Things are pretty tight.”
It’s not a decision they’ve taken lightly. Downey-Sutton said with so much else to worry about, they would also be concerned about their child being born into a province where there’s so much uncertainty.
“And when you look at what’s going on in the province, with rate mitigation, and there are so many questions about what the power (bills) will be like, raising a child in these financial turbulent times would be difficult.”
“The price of living is going up now more and more, and wages aren’t matching the price of inflation,” he said.
“And when you look at what’s going on in the province, with rate mitigation, and there are so many questions about what the power (bills) will be like, raising a child in these financial turbulent times would be difficult.”
Fewer children are being born in this province every year.
According to statistics from Service Newfoundland and Labrador, the birth rate in this province sank to its lowest level in decades in 2019, with just 3,768 babies born. That’s compared to 5,185 deaths in the same year.
In 2018, there were 4,002 births and 4,921 deaths.
The death rate first began exceeding the birth rate in 2011, when there were 4,529 deaths compared to 4,501 births. The gap has widened ever since.
Meanwhile, the population of Newfoundland and Labrador dipped from 528,356 in 2017 to 525,604 in 2018 to 521,542 in 2019.
“Some people have children and don’t really realize the big responsibility it takes to raise them, and raise a child well,” said April Legge, a member of the Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nations Band, who has a bachelor of arts degree and is also pursuing Bachelor of Social Work degree from the University of Victoria.
“We could provide a wonderful home and wonderful life to a child, but… I’ve seen friends who’ve had children and they find it so hard (financially and other ways), they kind of regret it. I just don’t want to feel that way …
“It’s a scary world.”
Unprecedented population challenge on the way
Keith Storey, honorary research professor in Memorial University’s geography department, is the director of The Population Project, a research program — funded through the Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development at MUN — that explored demographic changes in the province and its future implications.
Gone are the days when families would have eight and 10 children, he said.
“Now, you’re lucky see families with two children.”
It’s a trend all over the world, he said, with two-income parents feeling the financial crunch of having children.
However, in this province, Storey said, there’s also a rapidly aging population, which means there are fewer women of reproductive age. As well, with higher numbers of older people comes more deaths.
“Death rates aren’t going up because not as much money is being spent in health care. It’s quite the opposite. People are actually living longer,” he said. “But because there are more old people, there are more deaths.”
Research for the project concluded that combined with high rates of youth out-migration and an increasing number of people moving from rural parts of the province to more urban centres, it means the province is facing an unprecedented population challenge.
He said without government intervention, this trend will have a drastic impact on the economy, governance and the overall quality of life for the people of the province.
“The picture doesn’t look good unless something is done,” Storey said. “People must adapt to change. We’ve got to do more with less, or at least the same with less.”
The Population Project included reports that address everything from the need to reinvent the health-care system and provide municipal services more effectively to succession planning for businesses.
“You’ve got business people who were very successful, but now they’re retiring, but their kids have gone off … and don’t want to stay home and run the family business. If you can’t find someone to take over, the business closes and the place is less attractive to live in. People then say, ‘What’s the future here?’ and they move to a larger place,” Storey said.
“It’s all part of that snowball effect.”
There are no easy answers, but he said it’s time our leaders make the tough decisions.
“All this stuff is desperately challenging. Nobody in government seems to be willing to do anything to try and do something about it,” he said. “There has to be the political will to say no… there’s going to be more reduction in ‘this’ service, and you’ll see how popular that’s going to be.
“No politician is going to stick their neck out and say, ‘You can’t have it’ if they want to keep their seat.”
Twitter: @TelyRosie
