Canada is aging. Today, there are about 7.6 million people aged 65 and older in the country. That number is expected to rise to over 11 million people by 2043.
At the same time the number of seniors is growing, the birth rate is falling. Research by Statistics Canada shows Canada is a low-fertility country, or below the population replacement level of 2.1 children per woman.
If the country’s fertility continues to decline in the coming years, Canada could join the countries with the “lowest-low” fertility rates of 1.3 or less children per woman, Statistics Canada says.
There is an exception to this trend, however. Religious Canadian women have more children than non-religious women. That’s the finding of a new study by Cardus, a faith-based Canadian think tank.
Read my column in the Free
Press. (Photo at top by lyle aspinall/calgary sun/qmi agency, via the National Post.)
No comments:
Post a Comment