Inflation is causing some to think twice about having kids: ‘It doesn’t make sense’ – National | Globalnews.ca

Raising children – or even parenting them – can be challenging with high the cost of living in Canada.

After giving birth to her first child in August last year, 24-year-old Autumn Oliver-Giason has decided to put off having more children given the high cost of living. Canada Easy.

“It’s just not plausible. It doesn’t make sense,” she told Global News from McQuade, N.B.

As of 2021, Canada’s fertility rate has been on a steady decline since 2008 reports From Statistics Canada.

In 2020, as the trend was only accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada experienced the lowest number of births in 2020 since 2006.

Now, with decades of high inflation in Canada, some are putting the decision to have children on the backburner.

Oliver-Giason said she and her husband are “struggling” with the prices as they look after their son.

And with a lack of childcare, Oliver-Giason is unsure whether she’ll ever really be able to go back to work full-time once the vacation is over.

“I don’t even know if I (my son) is going to be able to go back to work before two because nobody will take him (anymore).”

To help cover some of the inflationary costs while on maternity leave, Oliver-Giason has also started babysitting for other children.

“I know what it’s like to be stressed and not have options, so I want to help some moms out (while) I’m at home. It helps us with the cost of inflation,” she said.

“We’re not having another baby until we either make a ridiculous amount more money, or inflation comes down or there’s a drastic change in the lack of childcare.”

As the data showed, the economic stress and toll caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are a “deterrent” for people considering having children, said Julia Chung, CEO and senior financial planner at Spring Planning.

“It’s a mind-shift in how we expect to see family life,” he told Global News.

However, when thinking about the financial costs of having children, it’s important to plan and be flexible in managing change, Chung said.

“It depends on you and what will be important to you and that baby,” she said. “There are questions you need to ask yourself: How do I want this to appear? What is included?

“If it sounds really hopeless, you can still design it,” Chung said.

Twenty-seven-year-old Emily Pigeau and her husband, who live in Grand Prairie, Alta. Their first child was born last May.

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“We didn’t plan on having kids at the time, but it happened,” she told Global News.

Now, on break from work as a small equipment operator, the bills are starting to pile up on her trucker husband.

“Three years ago, the weekly grocery shop was like $50. Now, we’re looking at like $150. That’s a huge jump,” she said.

“We don’t eat a lot of fresh vegetables. We usually do frozen stuff because it’s cheaper to buy. If it takes more than three or four items to throw in the pot, it gets really expensive.” ”

Future family planning has now been put on hold for Pigeau and her family.

“We would like to build a little more financial cushion,” he told Global News.

After recently finishing the first trimester of their second pregnancy, Jessica Blige, 32, and her husband in Beaumont, Alta., have turned to subscriptions, budget cuts, and even started growing vegetables in their backyard to help lower costs. returned for

“It’s been really stressful,” Blige told Global News. “I want to think about my family.”

Blige became a mom for the first time last February, and without being able to breastfeed, she raised her new baby amid a nationwide formula shortage.

“As soon as we launched a brand we felt we could afford on a weekly basis, they discontinued it along with all the other affordable formulas,” she said.

“The few brands left on the shelves—due to supply and demand—go up to about $90 a can, and it doesn’t last very long when your newborn eats it five, six, seven times a day, and then at night.” “

This time, Blige’s pregnancy was unexpected, and she expects to see the prices come down.

“We really figured to wait a while to see if we could offset the financial side of things, but God had his own way,” she said.

“When you become a parent it’s your number one concern is making sure your child has their needs,” Blige said. “So my biggest advice is to just accept help or ask for help and don’t be shy about it.”

Blaise would complete her family with this last child. Not only has getting pregnant become harder, “kids are expensive and they get more expensive as they get older,” she said.

According to Rona Birenbaum, founder of the financial planning and wealth management firm Caring for Clients, there’s one way to determine if you’re financially ready to have children.

“It all comes out in a financial planning process,” she told Global News, believing a financial planner can help with the process.

“Planning is key. Even though most of life is unpredictable, there are some things one can predict once they happen with some financial modeling. The numbers speak for themselves as to what is affordable and what is not affordable,” Birenbaum said.

However, when thinking about children, it’s important to recognize the “ripple effect of a single decision,” Birenbaum cautioned.

“There are certain expenses that sometimes hit parents unexpectedly. For example, starting your kids in hockey. Any parent who wants to encourage that talent is signing them up for a lot of expenses down the road. Think about the possible increase in expenses,” she said.

According to Birenbaum, it’s also important to consider the compromises that may need to be made when thinking about having a child.

“It’s really good to talk about what you’re willing to give up,” she said.

“It’s about finding a balance.”