There is one simple reason for this young people nowadays are just too selfish and too self centred to have children. To what extent do you agree with this view? support your argument with relevant readings and evidence.

sample essay

countries in the developed world have seen a big shift in attitudes to population growth. Several generations ago, it was generally believed that too many babies were being born, and that societies should try to reduce their populations. Nowadays, however, the concern is the reverse that birthrates are falling too low and that urgent action is needed to encourage people to have more children. But what are the causes of this trend? and how much are the attitudes and lifestyles of young people to blame? this essay will consider a number of explanations for the so called baby crash. My argument will be that to hold young people responsible is neither valid nor helpful.

Is to be found in the condition of increased economic insecurity faced by the young. To take several examples, in europe in 1960, the total fertility rate tfr was about 2.6 births per female, but in 1996 it had fallen to 1.4 chesnais, 1998. Japan now has a birthrate of only about 1.3, and hong kong 039 s has fallen to below 1.0 ichimura and ogawa, 20. A tfr of below 2.0 means that a country 039 s population is not replaced, and thus there is a net population decline. Fewer children being born means that in the long term, a smaller proportion of the populace will be economically productive, whilst a larger proportion will be old and economically dependent in the form of pension, health care and other social services. Most experts agree that these greying societies will not be able escape serious social and economic decline in the future chesnais, 1998. So what are the causes of this trend and what can be done to stop it? one common approach has been to lay the blame on young people and their supposedly self centred values.

It is argued that in developed societies, we now live in a post materialist age , where individuals do not have to be so concerned about basic material conditions to survive mcdonald, 20a. Thus people, especially the young, have become more focussed on the values of self realisation and the satisfaction of personal preferences, at the expense of traditional values like raising a family. A strong version of this view is put forward by japanese sociologist, masahiro yamada cited in ashby, 20.

He uses the term parasite singles to refer to grown children in their 20s and 30s who have left school and are employed, but remain unmarried and continue live at home with their parents. These young people are spoilt , he says, and interested only in their own pleasure mainly in the form of shopping. It is this focus on self, more than any other factor, that is responsible for japan 039 s languishing birth rate ashby, 20. In other developed countries, there is a similar tendency for the young to remain at home enjoying a single lifestyle and a similar tendency for older people to interpret this as selfishness mcdonald, 20a. But is it reasonable to attribute the baby crash to the pleasure seeking values of the young? the problem with this view is that whenever young people are surveyed about their attitudes to family, not only do they say they want to have children, they also express preferences for family sizes that are, on average, above the replacement level mcdonald, 20a. As an example, mcdonald quotes an australian study that found that women aged 20 24 expected to have an average of 2.33 children in their lifetime. Findings like this suggest that the values of the young are not at all incompatible with the idea of having a family.

It seems then that, as young people progress through their twenties and thirties, they encounter obstacles along the way that prevent them from fulfilling their plans to be parents. Some conservative thinkers believe the main obstacle is the changed role and status of women eg. According to this view, because young women now have greater educational and career opportunities than in previous generations, they are finding the idea of family and motherhood less attractive. Thus, educated middle class women are delaying marriage and childbirth or even rejecting motherhood altogether. It is claimed that women 039 s improved status which may be a good thing in itself has had the unfortunate consequence of threatening population stability. For one, the lowest tfrs in europe are found in spain and italy around 1.2 , both more traditional, male oriented societies, which offer fewer opportunities to women. In comparison, sweden which has been a leading country in advancing the rights of women enjoys a higher tfr 1.6 in 1996 even though it is still below replacement.

Int 2 English Critical Essay Marking

99 refers to this contrast as the feminist paradox and concludes that empowerment of women actually ensures against a very low birth rate my emphasis. Another problem with trying to link improved education levels for women to low birth rates is that fertility in developed countries seems to be declining across all education and class levels. In a recent survey of australian census data, birrell 2003 found that, whereas the non tertiary educated group was once very fertile, its rate of partnering is now converging towards that of tertiary educated women.