CGC1D1I – M. Timms Unité 4: La Démographie Canadienne

POURQUOI CHANGER QUAND ON REPRODUIT ? WOMEN IN EARLY 30s TAKE LEAD IN BIRTHS TORONTO STAR, NOVEMBER, 1995 Women in their early 30s are “now giving birth more often than women in their early 20s - a complete reversal of 20 years ago. The number of births to women age 20 to 24 fell to less than 20 per cent in 1993 from 36 per cent in 1971, Statistics Canada said yesterday. At the same time, the number of births to women 30 to 34 more than doubled — rising to 29 per cent in 1993 from 14 per cent in 1971. And more of these births to thirty-something women are first-born children than ever before, Carl Grindstaff, a professor of sociology at the University of Western Ontario, said in an article in Statistic Canada’s quarterly Canadian Social Trends. In the ‘50s and ‘60s, only one child in 10 born to women in their 30s was a first-born. By the ‘90s the ratio was almost one in three.

Birth Tally Turnaround 36%

Women 20-24 29%

Women 30-34 20% 14%

1971

1993

The trend continues for women in-their 40s. Only 5 per cent of children born to women over 40 were a first-born a generation ago and three-quarters were a fourth or higher. By the ‘90s, just over half were a first or second child. Grindstaff cites major changes in society in the latter half of the 20th century as the reason women began having fewer children. As education levels and divorce rates rose dramatically, more women began to work full-time and cohabitation began replacing marriage. Of all children born in 1993, 43 per cent were a first child and 35 per cent were a second. Only 7 per cent were born to mothers who already had three or more children and less than I per cent to mothers with six or more. Childlessness is also becoming more common, the report says. The number of women over 35 with no children rose to 13 per cent in 1991 from 7 per cent in 1971. “For individuals, having fewer children and delaying childbearing may mean having more time and money to invest in each child and in their own personal development; as well as a higher standard of living,” Grindstaff writes. WOMEN OVER 30 HELP BIRTHRATE RISE IN 2007 CBC NEWS, SEPTEMBER, 2009 Canadian women over 30 helped fuel another banner year for births in Canada in 2007, as Canada's fertility rate hit a 15-year high, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday. Women aged 30 to 34 gave birth to 115,415 of the 367,864 babies born in 2007, more than any other age group and the second consecutive year they led all age groups. And all women 30 and over accounted for 56 per cent of all births.

Activité 4-06 Page 1 de 2

CGC1D1I – M. Timms Unité 4: La Démographie Canadienne

The trend of more women having children later in life helped Canada hit a number of fertility milestones: • The total number of births was the highest since 1995 and the fifth consecutive annual increase. • The fertility rate, or the average number of children per woman, increased from 1.59 in 2006 to 1.66 in 2007, the highest since 1992. • Total births from 2006 to 2007 increased by 13,247, or 3.7 per cent, the fastest annual increase since 1989. The increase in births from 2006 is all the more surprising because 2006 was itself a banner year for births. The baby boom is not unique to Canada, Statistics Canada said in its report. Other countries with low fertility rates, such as the United States, Australia, Spain and Sweden, have also experienced an increase in their fertility rates. Canada's fertility rate of 1.66 is still below the replacement level fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman, or the level of fertility the population needs to replace itself from one generation to the next. In 2007, Canada's four most populated provinces — Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia (which account for 86% of the population, collectively) — accounted for 83 per cent of all births, with Alberta seeing the largest increase in births in the year. Women in Alberta gave birth to 49,028 babies in 2007, up 8.4 per cent from the previous year. The total fertility rate increased in all provinces and territories except the Yukon between 2006 and 2007. Nationally, Nunavut has the highest fertility rate in Canada, with 2.97 children per woman, while Saskatchewan leads the provinces with a fertility rate of 2.03. Newfoundland and Labrador has the lowest fertility rate, with 1.46 children per woman. QUESTIONS 1.

Quel changement démographique est arrivé dans les 20 ans précédents 1994 ?

2. Dans les années 50 et 60, combien de femmes avaient leur premier bébé dans leur trentaine ? 3. Quels phénomènes sociaux causent cette situation ? 4. Quel autre phénomène est devenu commun ? 5. Quel est l’intérêt de réduire le nombre de bébé qu’on a ? 6. Qu’est-ce que ce phénomène disait pour la population du Canada ? 7. Quel group d’âge a plus aidé le Canada à atteindre son taux de fertilité le plus haut depuis 1992 ? 8. Un « baby-boomlet » est une augmentation dans le numéro de naissances qui dure moins de temps qu’un baby-boom. Plusieurs pays avec un petit taux de fertilité (y compris le Canada) ont connu un baby-boomlet dans les années 2000. À votre avis, quelle est un des facteurs pour ce babyboomlet ? 9. À votre avis, pourquoi es-ce que le Nunavut a le taux de fertilité les plus élevé au Canada ? 10. À votre avis, pourquoi es-ce que Terre-Neuve et Labrador a le taux de fertilité les plus bas au Canada ? Activité 4-06 Page 2 de 2