Articles from the edge:

We are blogging about The Baby Cliff dilemma, and guess what?  Women like me are really messing with the economy.  Who knew my eggs (stale as they are) had so much power?

The heading “Childless Europe” appeared on the cover of June 29, 2008’s New York Times Magazine. Childlessness in Europe as well as in North America is becoming a desired lifestyle. 

According to the New York Times, one of the biggest reasons women list for not having kids is the potentially negative impact childrearing could have on their careers.

Thanks New York Times, I’m sure the news that women aren’t having babies because they don’t want to mess with their jobs is a big surprise to all of you.  Here’s the deal, I already have a baby—it’s my career.  Every film I begin feels a lot like giving birth (what I imagine giving birth to feel like anyways).   I often get up in the middle of the night to breast feed my film babies and sometimes I even pull an all-nighter for the brats.  Give me a poopy film diaper and I’ll change it like a pro.  So, actually going all the way and making a real baby is a scary notion for me.  After all, how could a good mother abandon the spoiled children she is already in the middle of raising?

More stats to please my professional women friends:

In Italy the birthrate currently sits at 1.3 children per couple.  They need to pop out over 2.2 kids just to replace themselves.  The low Italian birthrate together with a resistance to immigration has really messed with their economy.  Have you seen the movie Children of Men? A lot of Europe is starting to look a bit like that movie.   In parts of Germany and Italy whole towns have been abandoned because there aren’t enough people to fill them. Much of the same stuff is also happening here in Canada.  In New Brunswick the province’s death rate has overtaken the birth rate and they are predicting a shortage of 1.2 million workers in Canada by 2020. 

So there goes my dream of paying someone to put in my dentures. My grandma always said you made your bed now you must lay in it.  I get that Grandma, I just didn’t think you meant there’d be no one around spry enough to change the sheets. 

If you want to read the full article New York Times article visit

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/magazine/29Birth-t.html

 

Another Canadian article

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0013098