After hearing what was about the fifth pregnancy announcement from someone I know in one day, I had to wonder: Is this baby boom we keep hearing about real? Is it just the age? Is it a coincidence that my friends, relatives, coworkers, acquaintances and everyone else seems to be popping them out like water?
Well, according to statistics at least, the baby boom is very real. 2006 saw the biggest birth rate jump in Quebec since 1909, and, though 2007’s numbers aren’t fully in yet, but if preliminary numbers are any indication, it will only be higher. And, just looking around, I’m guessing 2008 will be a bumper year.
What’s causing this baby boom? Is it the new parental leave program that the provincial government introduced in 2005, and which many people claim is responsible? Is it the “baby-chic” culture created by celebrity pregnancies and births? Is it the economy, stupid, which until recently has been booming? Is it the fact that the echo generation (the kids of the baby boomers) hit their main child-bearing years? All of the above?
Whatever the reason, it’s definitely on. It seems like every couple of days, a friend or coworker announces that they’re expecting. Women’s clothing fads have become materinity-looking for everyone, even the non-pregnant. The baby is the latest must-have fashion accessory. And one after the other, people who used to have lives are dropping like flies, trading in their martini glasses for baby wipes.
Now don’t get me wrong, I like babies. They’re cute, they’re cuddly, most of them grow up into very nice people. And besides, who can look into eyes like these and not melt?
My baby cousin. Isn't she adorable?
All that said, it’s starting to feel like an us-versus-them mentality in the ranks between two groups: people with babies, and people without ’em. It’s no secret that you can only be in one camp at a time, and that once you switch sides there’s no going back.
I’m starting to wonder if it will take nothing short of a good old-fashioned recession to put the breaks on the baby boom. Conveniently, one seems to be right around the corner.