Advertisement

B.C. birthrates dropping amid high cost of living and childcare challenges

Click to play video: 'Tough economy may be behind drop in B.C. birth rate'
Tough economy may be behind drop in B.C. birth rate
WATCH: B.C.'s birth rate has had a big decline. The number of babies born in 2022 dropped by more than 2,000 compared to the year before. Cassidy Mosconi has a possible reason for the decline. – Sep 27, 2023

The birthrate in B.C. is dropping with data from Stats Canada indicating there were more than 2,000 fewer births in the province between 2021 and 2022.

There were 41,833 babies born in B.C. last year, which is one of the lowest rates in more than 15 years.

Sarah Erskine, an analyst with Stats Canada, told Global News all provinces across Canada, with the exception of Nova Scotia, saw a decline in birth rates from 2021 to 2022.

“It’s about a five-per cent decline across Canada and similar figures for British Columbia,” she said.

“It’s probably the biggest decline that we’ve seen in a single year in quite some time. It’s kind of reverting to the trends since before the pandemic. We saw a decrease in 2020 because, well, perhaps because of the pandemic and we saw another increase in 2021 and 2022.”

Story continues below advertisement
Click to play video: 'Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month'
Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month

Sarah Dow-Fleisner, an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at UBC Okanagan, said there are a few reasons why this decline is happening.

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.

Get weekly health news

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

One of them is the rising cost of living and the lack of housing in B.C.

“We have so many young people in that 20 to 25 range who are unable to afford housing on their own and are actually returning back to their parent’s homes,” Dow-Fleisner said. “That’s going to change their reproductive decisions, their family decisions.”

Another reason is access to child care and affordable child care.

“The new bill that limits the costs to $10 a day is fantastic, but the availability of child care remains a consistent issue,” Dow-Fleisner added.

“They recommend that within the first few weeks of pregnancy to put your child on a waitlist in order to have child care when they’re one year old. That’s a huge problem and that’s going to shape how people make decisions around having children.”

Story continues below advertisement

She said another reason centres around the desire for women to be in the labour force and being unwilling to take time off to have children.

“For every child that you have, that’s time that you take off from work and that’s impacting the way that people decide how many kids they’re going to have.”

Click to play video: 'B.C. baby to be the first to have Indigenous name on birth certificate'
B.C. baby to be the first to have Indigenous name on birth certificate

Dow-Fleisner also said that women are reevaluating their role in society.

“I think more often than not, we’re seeing that sort of the rhetoric around the purpose of a woman or the purpose of a person with a uterus is just to have children is waning and it’s getting pushed back on,” she said.

“So more people are really embracing the idea of their bodily autonomy and being outspoken.”

Advertisement

Sponsored content

AdChoices