The key reason for the long-standing low fertility rate in our country is the difficulty young Poles have in entering into relationships, demographic expert Mateusz Łakomy assessed in the PAP Studio. The drop below 20,000 births per month is now permanent, he added.
Łakomy, a member of the European Association of Population Studies and author of the book “Demography is the Future. Does Poland Have a Chance to Reverse Negative Trends?”, commented on Tuesday at the PAP Studio on the latest data from the Central Statistical Office (GUS), according to which 19,500 babies were born in May of this year. He noted that this is another month in a row proving that we have permanently fallen below 20,000 births per month.
He noted that 96,000 babies were born from January to May of this year, representing a nearly 10 percent drop compared to the same period a year earlier. “The decline in the number of births is very rapid,” he emphasized.
In his opinion, the key reason for the long-term low fertility rate is the difficulty young Poles have in entering into relationships. This is due, in part, to the educational gap between men and women.
“There is a much higher percentage of women with higher education than men. This is important because our education is one of the most important factors that determines something called socioeconomic status, social respect, access to resources, income, and profession,” said the demographics expert.
He noted that a number of studies indicate that people most often enter into relationships when potential partners have a similar socio-economic status, and the ideal situation is when the man's socio-economic status is slightly higher.
“Because it provides the woman with a greater sense of security, as she has greater access to resources. She knows she can feel safer and decide to have a child,” he said.
Moreover, according to Łakomy, this is also due to, among other things, geographical differences and the migration of women to the largest cities where universities are located, which causes a surplus of women in centers such as Warsaw, Poznań and Kraków.
He emphasized that demographic research clearly indicates that the earlier the first child is born, the more offspring a couple can expect on average. “Many young Poles work on fixed-term contracts, and it's very difficult for them to decide to have a child because, for example, women are not entitled to maternity benefits if pregnancy occurs at the wrong time,” he said.
Łakomy rejects attempts to simplify the current demographic situation by explaining it solely in terms of economic or cultural factors. In his opinion, the range of these variables is much broader.
Adrian Kowarzyk (PAP)
The entire conversation and its fragment are available at: https://wideo.pap.pl/pap-media,101/lakomy-zeszlismy-w-polsce-trwale-ponizej-20-tys-urodzen-miesiecznie,83830 and https://wideo.pap.pl/pap-media,101/lakomy-trudnosc-z-wchodzim-mlodych-polakow-w-zwiazek-kluczowa-przyczyna-niskiej-dzietnosci-fragment,83831
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