The Baby Boom

Here's some evidence to suggest that we don't really know much about the new world.

We heard about the baby bust in June.  Disasters create uncertainty, and in an uncertain world people put off having children.  When the disaster lasts for a year, the effect is magnified.  So - fewer children in the new world.

But wait - this particular disaster has prevented millions of women from accessing family planning services, contraceptives, and abortion services.

Lockdowns, travel restrictions, supply chain disruptions, the massive shift of health resources to combat COVID-19 and fear of infection continue to prevent many women and girls from care.

In 27 countries surveyed, two million fewer women accessed these services in the first half of 2020 as did in the same time period in 2019.  The US Population Fund suggests as many as seven million unwanted  pregnancies as a result of the pandemic.  All of these children will be, in some sense, unwanted.

Of course, we can have a baby bust and a baby boom at the same time.  The difference is, at first glance, that the bust will be among wealthier populations with more regular and reliable access to services, while the baby boom - and a heartbreaking flood of unwanted children - will occur among those with the fewest resources.

More of the same.  There has to be a point where the systemic injustice becomes so present, so excruciating, that there is a shift in the worldwide political will.

Or maybe not.