Statistics Canada confirmed last week that 351,679 babies were born in 2022 — the lowest number of live births since 345,044 births were recorded in 2005.
The disparity is all the more notable given that Canada had just 32 million people in 2005, as compared to the 40 million it counted by the end of 2022. In 2005, it was already at historic lows for Canada to have a fertility rate of 1.57 births per woman. But given the 2022 figures, that fertility rate has now sunk to 1.33.
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Of Canadians in their 20s, Statistics Canada found that 38 per cent of them “did not believe they could afford to have a child in the next three years” — with about that same number (32 per cent) saying they doubted they’d be able to find “suitable housing” in which to care for a baby.
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A January survey by the Angus Reid Group asked women to list the ideal size of their family against its actual size, and concluded that the average Canadian woman reached the end of their childbearing years with 0.5 fewer children than they would have wanted
“In Canada, unlike many other countries, fertility rates and desires rise with income: richer Canadians have more children,” it read.
Germany has its own insanity in the housing market :-P I lived in Germany or several years. I rented vs buying and I dreaded moving because facing that shit show of a rental process (at least in places like Hamburg) was… too much. Queuing up with 100 other people all racing to fill in the rental application form first just so they’d get a chance at a place. I quickly learned to use an agency to line up rentals… and ended up renting a VERY nice newly built flat for the same price as the old many-times-renovated flats in the same district.
I did buy a house elsewhere in Europe and it was… interesting as an expat. It was substantially cheaper than Canada… granted it was many years ago, so not a fair comparison.
The Canadian government makes noises about “fixing” the housing crisis in Canada, but… I honestly don’t think they can. Houses are currently priced out of reach… WAY out of reach for the average new home buyer. People can’t save up a 5% to 20% down payment fast enough to keep up with the rising cost of living. The cost of everything is increasing at multiple times their potential salary increases (if they even get any).