Freedom Come Rain

Sin, loneliness, curse blamed for plummeting birthrate globally With more women saying no to marriage and motherhood, populations across the globe have seen a significant decline in the birth rate. This spells trouble for vital sectors and industries worldwide. One local marriage advocate is concerned that the phenomenon of more women choosing careers over families has also given rise to a global epidemic of loneliness and isolation. Founder of #marriagemattersJamaica, Philippa Davies, noted that increasingly the idea of having children and a family is being devalued. Instead, children are being seen as an inconvenience and a burden. This thought is also shared by some Christians, despite the fact that the Bible has promoted marriage as “a good thing.” Davies, who is an attorney, noted that a number of women, having pursued a successful career, are now in pain and are lonely after putting marriage and family life on the back burner. “Look at what women who are older are saying in later life, having achieved the career, having reached the highest of all those other goals; how do they feel and what are they saying? And you would find that there are many women who regret not having gotten married, not having babies, who have become dissatisfied with career and realise it is just a treadmill, because after you’ve attained the highest height of career, what else is there to do? More career heights?” she asked. Nearly one in four people worldwide, which translates into more than a billion people, feel very or fairly lonely, according to a Meta-Gallup survey of more than 140 countries. The researchers noted that the numbers could be even higher, as the survey represented approximately 77% of the world’s adults because it was not conducted in the second-most populous country in the world, China. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared loneliness to be a pressing global health threat in 2023, with the US surgeon general saying that its mortality effects are equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Governments have moved to appoint officials to tackle this growing challenge. Even before the global pandemic, which worsened the problem, former U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May launched “the world’s first ministerial lead” to tackle loneliness in 2018. May noted at the time that loneliness was “the sad reality of modern life.” Japan has also created a Ministry for Loneliness to coordinate efforts and promote policy across ministries and agencies to address loneliness and isolation. Seniors especially are increasingly turning to robots to counteract their feelings of loneliness, but Davies noted that despite the rise in technology and social media interactions, many people are still struggling. “Technology has been a great boon in many ways, but you still cannot replace the joy and the deep soul satisfaction of having that connection that is face-to-face with another live human being. So the robots may offer technical support, but can you build a healthy relationship with a robot that is programmed to give you certain responses? I don’t think you can,” she said. Encouraging women to have fewer children, a move that was once seen as a good idea to address overpopulation has backfired. Now governments around the world are pleading with women to have babies. Jamaica is among the countries that have found itself in this dilemma, as the average birth rate per mother is now at about 1.4 percent based on 2022 data. The ideal number should be just about two or a little over two. Health minister Dr. Christopher Tufton noted that this has socio-economic implications for the country. “It means that it will affect our labour force, our competitiveness, and frankly speaking, it will undermine, as a society, our capacity to realise our full potential," stated Tufton during a baby-friendly accreditation ceremony two years ago at the Mandeville Regional Hospital in Manchester. Davies, noted that the 'Two is better than too many' campaign in the 1980s by the National Family Planning Board has contributed significantly to the fertility crisis the country is currently facing. “To see the drastic fall in birth rate is not surprising, and particularly because it was and is the policy objective of the United Nations. Back in the 1970s and 80s, it was an objective to reduce population size, and it was touted as being a plus or a benefit to economic growth and development, but it is quite illogical when you think about it. For a society to enjoy a strong economy and strive, you need people. It is people who are going to bring innovation; it is people who are going to be workers in a society; it is people who are going to be investing in the innovation of others,” she said. She said global leaders need to admit that following the trend that was presented by the United Nations was a colossal mistake.

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