BellaOnline Forums Relationships Married No Kids More blather in our local media

When will they all stop panicking about the birth rate...had to endure this in our local paper today...

BellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!

Actually this really really bugs me to the point that I may have to write a letter to the editor:



Who said CF people are expecting the state to look after us? If we got to that point we may even hire a private nurse with the money that we have saved by not having children.

So now we have parents wondering who will take care of us when we get old and now we have the media saying the same [censored]! I am so tired of hearing this.

These articles are so blown out of proportion..gimme a break...population declining?? They need to come check out just my subdivision alone.

Ug! That is infuriating.

And yeah! What about that population decline? WTH? I had some friends a few years back who wanted to move to NZ, so I learned about some of the regulations and requirements...very strict. They only will accept young professionals. Maybe they should loosen their immigration requirements if they're so concerned. There are a lot of refugees from war-torn countries who would probably be more than willing to add to the population in NZ, and might even *gasp* be willing to help out an elderly person.

But, I get it...they mean the "white" population is declining.

Harumph.

edited to add...I haven't read the actual article yet, so excuse me if this rant doesn't make sense. I have to eat breakfast and get back to it...

pathetic. Really pathetic. So with a decline in the workforce the first thing they think of is that it might cost the state more money (which it wouldn't, since CF people can afford to take care of themselves, what with being the most mature and responsible people in the world).

How about thinking about the idea that a declining workforce population will make workers more important, which means that hundreds of people will no longer have to apply for one job? That companies will actually have to start offering better pay and benefits in order to entice employees?

In short, people will become more IMPORTANT.

Oh, the horror.

Anyway, the US is breeding enough that NZ doesn't need to worry about population growth.

I just don't get it. What's so wrong with a declining population? There have never been so many of us, so why this incessant need to keep adding more? I understand that the economy needs an ever increasing number of workers to balance out the ageing population, but it's clear that the population can't continue to increase indefinitely (after all, natural resources such as space, food and water are finite). At some point, we are going to have to stop and adjust the economy to take account of the changing demographics, not adjusting the demographics to suit the economy. Why not do that now, instead of compounding the problem? From an environmental perspective, we need fewer people, not more.

Sorry, this subject causes me to rant...



Because clearly only people without a family are looked after by the state. Mr Didham should pull his head from the sand and look around...

Wow, those people are the same ones that buy into pyramid scams. After all, for a pyramid scam to work it HAS to have more and more people added to it. The thing is, the workforce is far more flexible about the amount of people available to work. As Tress said, when there's fewer people clamoring for the same job, businesses have to actually give appropriate compensation, because the person can afford to be more choosy.

Sorry but in my short 30-odd year life time the population of New Zealand has gone up from three million to at least four million.
Ok there ARE some things we can't have as there's not the people (e.g. lots of theme parks, when I left NZ there was only ONE in Auckland - a main city of New Zealand - although there used to be two. And two water parks! In the WHOLE city!!!
On the OTHER hand NZ can honestly offer people what many consider to be a better quality of life: cleaner, greener, less crime, less pollution BECAUSE there are LESS PEOPLE!
(Plus we can be quite environmentally-minded!)
(I want me and hubby to retire to New Zealand by the way one day, if they'll have us! And have me back!!)
Anyway I think as I have pointed out, less people can be an advantage. Here's another thing. In parts of the UK anyway it can take a LONG time to get health care and do you know what? In London sometimes police cars with blaring sirens trying to get to an emergency are stuck behind traffic and the cars CAN'T move out of the way cos people have to park on the streets as there isn't enough room. I always think that's incredibly dangerous.
Hubby and I have
travelled from both Heathrow and Gatwick airports. While he prefers Heathrow as it's closer to where we live, I prefer Gatwick as it's more personal. Because it's not so BUSY.
And when I flew from Auckland to Hastings on a small plane with few passengers the flight attendant could and did actually sit down and chat with me about my travels as well she had few people to serve!

Ambulances and firetrucks have an awful time in Houston. If they need to get anywhere, they sometimes swing out into on-coming traffic if the lanes are clear.

During the attempted evacuation for hurricane Rita, you'd think people would have noticed the effects of a bloated population. People couldn't even leave the city because so many people were trying to move in gridlocked traffic for 24 hours. When you think about just how sprawling the city is and how many roads there are out (it's like a spider web, with strands running out in all directions) you start to realize just how many people would have to be attempting to drive in order to bring all traffic to a standstill.

I actually think it's quite cool that there will be an aging population and not enough young people in the workforce. Because I am sick of ageism and a youth oriented culture. I like the idea that older people will be in demand to stay working after retierment, about the time DH and I hit 70. DH is thinking about retraining as a teacher (something that's always interested him) and I might also try a different type of work, but only part-time.