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It started as a joke in March 2020 that there could be a baby boom in nine months, as couples were locked in their homes. But nine months from the lockdown, the statistics showed the opposite was true. Quebec’s and British Columbia’s birthrate fell in December 2020. University of Victoria economist Elisabeth Gugl listed many factors that could have caused this dip, and one of them was financial uncertainty. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) realized the extra support parents needed during the lockdown. Hence, it made big changes to the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) it offers parents.
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Nine months after the pandemic arrived, births fell sharply: data
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Turns out the opposite seems to be true, as early research indicates the pandemic has made people in the western world have fewer babies, not more.
Last year, birth rates dropped around the world, according to reports by the Wall Street Journal. France, Japan, Germany, the U.K., and the U.S. reported fewer births, with the most significant decreases in Italy the European country, that suffered the most serious early COVID-19 losses, had a 21 per cent decrease in births.
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Researchers are expecting a baby bust, not baby boom, worldwide.
There aren’t official stats for Canada yet, but several provinces are bracing for the bust: The media outlet Vancouver is Awesome reports that B.C. births were at a “decade record low” last December.