Population and Migration Escalating Fertility Levels in Australia - Essay Example

 Population and Migration: Escalating Fertility Levels in Australia The current trend in Australia, with regard to the escalation in child birth rates and the growing population clearly defines that the programs that have been instated to assist families are working well to bring encouragement and hope for many couples who would otherwise wait longer to start their families. The maternity payments that are paid to many women following childbirth is just one of the ways in which many burdens have been eradicated and of which provide the much needed assistance to young couples that has been lacking in years past. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has obviously tried to transcend an idea that women deserve payment for their contributions as mothers and caregivers to the children brought into the world within their own families. This is one of the reasons that the lump sum maternity payment was devised, at least it is one of the reasons many females perceive it for coming into existence (Bittman 1997). Although there are many Australian women who find the baby bonus appealing and think it is fair there are just as many who believe it to be unfair. Those who do not see it as a positive influence do not believe that it will make that much of a difference in the swell of childbirths taking place within the country. Further, there are some mothers who believe that this type of aid from the Australian government is questionable and don’t really see any true and long lasting benefits stemming from it. These women claim that because of their doubts the bonus will not encourage them to have any more children than what they had previously planned on having to begin with (Hinman 1998). Many sociologists who have studied the changes that this bonus and other welfare assistance programs have brought depict an analysis of it that shows it as being unfair and seriously flawed, and not wholly beneficial to all women, especially those who need it the most (Hinman 1998). McMullan’s analysis (cited in Colebatch 2003) states that the baby bonus: Provides the biggest benefit to those that least need it. It fails to provide financial support when it is most needed, is biased against women who return to work, and pays nothing for second and subsequent children when family pressures are often the greatest. With this type of enlightenment, clearly the bonus will not change the rate of which women have children, especially for those who are not gaining any benefits from the entitlement to begin with (Colebatch 2003). Furthermore, quite obviously this rebate was targeted to assist middle-class families alone as only 8.1% of women applicable to receive the full payment and any of those with high income partners would immediately fall out of the bracket due to the family earning too much (Colebatch 2003). It does appear to be true that indeed the government does attempt to steer clear of the private sphere of the family, yet when it does offer assistance it tends to exclude the underprivileged sector of Australians such as the Aboriginal people which are the exact citizens who would benefit from such a lump payment the most. At the same time this is said the Australian government refutes these types of statements claiming that not only is the baby bonus meant to be of a help to many families, including indigenous Australian’s, but also other family welfare programs are designed to come into affect where others leave off, such as the baby bonus does (Centrelink 2004). The Australian policy implementers state that the various family assistance policies are meant to give much needed extra financial support in order to provide income to those who have excessive costs in raising children, with specific emphases on maternity and newborn costs in a concise way that is focused on meeting the needs of all of those people who are citizens of the country of Australia. However, even though there exist welfare programs these are still not drastically changing the amount of births taking place within Australia. The points of view surrounding these various policies do have varying opinions however. The ‘More Help for Families’ package has been proven to be one of the universal programs that the Australian government has converted into the family assistance programs which is meant to make a more astounding difference (Centrelink 2004). This program does have a universal maternity payment built into it. The reason it does so is because the government has recognized that there is more of a need for mothers with newborns than from years past. This plan follows an inclusive format that allows for all families who have had a child born or adopted from 2004 to be eligible for subsidiary payment. Furthermore, there is no income or any other financial assessment that is given which would disqualify any family from being eligible for this type of assistance. This program did begin in 2004 and is meant to replace the past maternity payments and also the baby bonus as well. The reason for doing so is to show that the government is not trying to disqualify anyone within the country from receiving any form of assistance that they might need to help them with childcare expenses (Centrelink 2004). Also, because Australia is very diverse the government has had to guarantee that all people will be included in the necessary assistance for prenatal healthcare and the new universal maternity payment. The government of Australia has become aware that there needs to be more services given to women to encourage them to have children and to guarantee them they will receive the help they need when they need it. A number of steps that have been put into place within the prenatal healthcare regimen allows for building healthy public policy, creating supportive environments, strengthening community action, developing personal skills and re-orienting health services. Some services provide non-native English speakers classes so that they can have the ability to convey their prenatal needs effectively and therefore avoid becoming disadvantaged or forgotten about in the system. The language course is designed to teach the women of non-English backgrounds the relevant English needed to know when having a baby in English speaking countries, so they are able to understand the doctor and midwives and feel confident that they are able to cope (Ramsey as cited in Wickham, 2003). Yet unfortunately, many of the mentioned strategies were adopted in England and not Australia. However, there are Migrant Resource Centre's (MRC) located in Victoria which provide 'information and support to migrants and refugees in many community languages, they also provide contact with other organizations and services in the area' (Chadwick 1994). The MRC also help community groups apply for funding and grants, therefore providing the possibility for those out in the community who wish to create a strategy, such as the English language course, to help create that equality in the maternity and post-natal health care system. When all of these resources come together than it can more feasibly be said to be contributing to the growing baby boom in the country. Still, this is more focused on the young people rather than older women who still remain questioning about how well the government programs actually work to assist women of child bearing ages. Many hospitals around Australia can verify that younger women are indeed having more than one child in the current time. The incentives are clearly bringing about changes whether some citizens want to admit to it or not. For instance, since the maternity payment’s introduction last year over 140,000 Australians have applied for this incentive during pregnancy and over $440 million dollars has been paid out to couples to assist them with their prenatal and child-bearing needs. These benefits are covering much of the excessive costs associated with child-birth and newborn care which is obviously reducing the burden on young couples who otherwise would have faltered financially by having more than one child. Furthermore, the payment is planned to be increased to up to $4000 dollars by the end of next year and by doing so it is believed that the growing births will possibly continue to gain in proportion. Again, however, this does not imply that all child bearing women will be a part of this baby boom movement. As was stated, the younger generation is more apse to fall into the phase more so than any older woman is who is still able to bear children. To conclude, it is quite possible that the amount of births in Australia might just continue to rise to higher proportions but the more obvious implications that the services instated now are providing is more security for women who are concerned with how they will financially afford having a child. The many programs that work together in the country have undoubtedly made a difference in many Australian women’s lives, specifically with the younger generation. As more changes take place and more programs are implemented perhaps more women within the older generation will start agreeing and believing that the government is attempting to help women and not cause any further hardship at all. At this point in time it is not totally clear what might take place in the country but there is not a doubt that women are well-adjusted to becoming mothers to more than one child now, more so than in any year past. Notes 1. Bittman, M, The Double Life of the Family: Myth, Hope, and Experience, (Sydney: Allen and Unwin Publishing, 1997). 2. Centerlink, A Guide to Australian Government Payments [online], 2004 [cited 20 Aug. 2006]; available from World Wide Web: http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/9895157A356ED97BCA256F7200832FEA?opendocument 3. Chadwick, J, “Perinatal Mortality and Antenatal Care,” Modern Midwife, 4, 1994. 4. Colebatch, T, Something for Kate: Why the Baby Bonus is Hard Work [online], 2003 [cited 20 Aug. 2006]; available from World Wide Web: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/01/10/1041990097100.html 5. Hinman, L, The Ethics of Diversity: Gender, Ethics, a Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory, (Sidney: Harcourt & Brace Publishing, 1998). 6. Wickham, S, Midwifery Best Practice, (London: Elsevier Science, 2003). Read More