5 minutes

Fertility rate at risk

Dr..

Yousef al-Sharif

twitter.com/dryalsharif

February 09 2022

During the past 10 years, the fertility rate in the country decreased remarkably and rapidly in a striking and worrying manner, especially that we are an emerging country in the world of economy and trade, and we have great future ambitions and need generations to complete the march, and the rate of decline in fertility poses a great danger to our future and the future of our ambitions and plans.

In 2012, the fertility rate in the country was 5.4%, and this percentage decreased to 1.49%, and this means that if this percentage continues to decline at this level, or even if it remains at these levels, our society will become a society of grandparents, and thus the percentage of grandchildren in society will decrease. And this is a negative sign, since development rates depend heavily on the birth rate. The grandchildren are the ones who will complete the grandparents’ journey, and the decline in their numbers will cost us a lot in the future.

There are many reasons for this problem, and in my view the two most important reasons are first: the cost of living, and secondly: the nature of women who have changed and are looking for financial independence and career development, forgetting their primary role in procreation, raising children and increasing the fertility rate, to ensure the stability of our society in the future, and without any doubt that it is the right of Women should look for their professional successes and independence in this aspect, but there must be a balance between the two duties, and the future of our generations must be considered in the long term.

The society’s view of marriage and childbearing has changed and even the concept of the family has changed for many, and the matter is facing many and many challenges, and despite the fact that state institutions have developed many solutions and provided assistance to families, whether material or moral, and guaranteed working women their rights to maternity leave, and even increased their During this leave, the correction of the course in the fertility rate was not done in the required manner and in a manner that ensures the stability of development in our country in the future, and the reason here lies in the societal mentality that has changed and with it many concepts, and the society is facing psychological difficulties with the issue of procreation, and its reluctance to have children His justifications are increasing day by day.

These days, women think about their external appearance, career path and financial independence, and men think about freedom and not being bound by the family and their responsibilities, and think about the financial burden that entails the issue of childbearing, and for this reason families are satisfied with a small number of children, and the more time progresses, this percentage decreases.

The solutions that are put in place to solve this problem do not affect them as required. No matter how much we provide families with material temptations and psychological and social support, we will not succeed in modifying this path. There is a big societal problem. Any support for small families in terms of assistance with care and costs if they are able to do so, and there has become a social rift, as each person wants independence on his own and finds it difficult to find integration with the other.

This problem must be seriously placed on the decision table, and more effective measures must be taken to modify the fertility path to reach the levels required for development, especially since the foundation of our state is human-building, and we must create this person before we think about his development, and the Emirati society and Emirati families are responsible for this matter. And it must urgently rectify its situation and assume its responsibilities towards the future of our generations and the future of our society.

• Women have the right to search for their professional successes and independence.

twitter.com/dryalsharif

www.ysalc.ae 

Lawyer and media writer

To read the previous articles of the writer please click on its name.