Birth Dearth Watch: Baby Boom for Dusseldorf?

"Baby boom times for Germany
By Bertrand Benoit in Düsseldorf
The Financial Times, July 14 2007

"A pregnant woman is a rare sight on German city streets. But sit at a café terrace on Düsseldorf's Königsallee, its main shopping artery, and you will probably spot several swollen bellies.

Statisticians have been scratching their heads lately over figures that suggest Germans, among the most barren of western Europeans, are rediscovering the joys of procreation.

In the first quarter of 2007, nearly 15 per cent more babies were born in Düsseldorf than in the same period last year. The Kaiserwerther Diakonie, one of the city's three large hospitals, reported a rise in births of more than 16 per cent in the first half of the year.

Die Welt, the daily, is predicting "a new baby boom".

The excitement is understandable. Germany not only pioneered Europe's downward turn in fertility rates 30 years ago. It also has one of the continent's lowest birth rates at 1.34 children per woman, and its population is shrinking.

Germany's demographics have spawned doomsday predictions about the collapse of the country's welfare state and medical system. Opinion polls show few young people think they can survive in old age on the basic state pension.

"German-speaking countries are unique in having a full generation that has come of age seeing childbearing as abnormal," says Wolfgang Lutz, the director of the Vienna Institute of Demography. "This has affected the psychology, with a third of young men now saying they never want to have children."

Demography experts warn that it could take months, even years, to determine whether the rise in childbirth is a statistical anomaly or if something more fundamental is happening. . .

One popular explanation lies in the country's powerful economic recovery. . .

Another possible factor lies in policy. Manfred Golschinski, the head of Düsseldorf's statistical office, points to the municipality's family-friendly measures: Düsseldorf has had a budget surplus for the past seven years and has invested heavily in renovating schools and building kindergartens.

Then there is Elterngeld, a new parental allowance. Introduced nationwide in January and modelled on Scandinavian policies, the benefit entitles every new parent to a state allowance worth 67 per cent of their salary if they stop working for a year after having a child.

"The experience of Scandinavian countries, which introduced such benefits in the 1970s, clearly had a positive impact," says Gerda Neyer, head of the laboratory on population and policies at the Max Planck Institute for Demography inRostock.

. . .Elterngeld, he says, was a decisive step "because it is about making it easier for a woman to combine work and family, which every demographically successful society tells us is the key to higher birth rates".

A senior civil servant involved in drafting thelaw says the shift took place about three years ago, when it dawned on much of the conservative electorate that keeping women at the stove was a recipe for gradual extinction."
posted by maggie at 5:32 PM | Link |  

DIVORCE AND FAITH: Kristine Steakley

notes an interesting detail in this USA Today story.
posted by Eve at 1:53 AM | Link |  

Interview with Mass. Chief Justice Margaret Marshall

In Martha's Vinyard Gazette. I didn't know she was South African originally.
posted by maggie at 5:39 PM | Link |  

Press Release: NY "Right to Marry Campaign"

From an Emediawire press release:

"On July 14th, a group of young adults from New York and across the country will gather in Albany before embarking on a journey to speak with state legislators and their constituencies about marriage equality. The initiative, known as the Right to Marry campaign, will bypass the state capitol and engage directly with the communities that inform the positions of the elected officials. Forty young adults will traverse the state in four distinct routes over two weeks. Aside from appointments with legislators, the Right to Marry young adults will volunteer with local organizations, host potlucks and picnics, participate in County Fairs, and attend religious services. . ."

posted by maggie at 12:12 PM | Link |  

David Brooks Listens to Z100

The Pink song is an expression of the ambivalence women have about their sexual effect on men, aka the hostility women experience towards male sexuality. "I'm not here for you entertainment, you don't really want to mess with me tonight." Of course getting dressed to the nines and downing six shots at the bar is pretty good way to guarantee you'll attract some undesirable male attention. Eros is so complex.

I don't know why David includes Carrie Underwood's "Before he Cheats" which is a classic country-western theme. Of course the theme is liberating female hostility towards male sexuality. (Has he ever heard Crystal Gayle's "Cry me a River?")

Eros pulls us out of our own selves and makes us need someone else (and makes someone else look to us for their satisfaction). The undertow of desire is resentment at the loss of self-containment.

BTW I love all 3 of these songs:

"DAVID BROOKS: The New Lone Rangers

If you’ve been driving around listening to pop radio stations this spring and summer, you’ll have noticed three songs that are pretty much unavoidable, and each of them is a long way from puppy love.

First, there’s “Before He Cheats,” by Carrie Underwood. This is a song about a woman who catches her boyfriend in a bar fooling around with someone else. But she’s not wounded or insecure. She’s got nothing but contempt for the slobbering, cologne-wearing jerk. She’s disgusted by the bleached blond girly-girl who’s leading him on and who doesn’t even know how to drink whiskey. . .

The second song is “U + Ur Hand,” by Pink. . . .She snarls at the pathetic guys who come up offering to buy her a drink, telling them: “Keep your drink, just give me the money. It’s just you and your hand tonight.”

The third song is “Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne, . . . Or as she sneers: “In a second, you’ll be wrapped around my finger, cause I can ... do it better! She so stupid! What the hell were you thinking?”

If you put the songs together, you see they’re about the same sort of character: a character who would have been socially unacceptable in a megahit pop song 10, let alone 30 years ago.

This character is hard-boiled, foul-mouthed, fedup, emotionally self-sufficient and unforgiving. She’s like one of those battle-hardened combat vets, who’s had the sentimentality beaten out of her and who no longer has time for romance or etiquette. She’s disgusted by male idiots and contemptuous of the feminine flirts who cater to them. She’s also, at least in some of the songs, about 16. . ."

posted by maggie at 12:03 PM | Link |  

Pew Study: Moms Prefer to Work Part-time

From a July 12 front page Washington Post story on the latest installment of the Pew marriage poll, based on interviews with a nationally representative sample of 414 moms. Two things leap out: the big change in the minds of unmarried moms (as they work more, they no longer see full-time work as 'ideal'); also the big and growing gender gap in work preferences:

"Part-Time Looks Fine To Working Mothers
60% Prefer It to Full-Time or No Job
By Donna St. George
Thursday, July 12, 2007; Page A01
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/11/AR2007071102345.html

A new majority of working moms in the United States would be happiest in part-time jobs, with fewer seeing full-time work as an ideal, according to a study released today.

. . . .The proportion of mothers who feel that way jumped 12 percentage points since 1997. Now, 60 percent of employed mothers find part-time work most appealing. But just 24 percent of them actually have part-time hours, labor statistics show, and mothers working part time have not increased in number in the last decade. . .

This is also a new generation of working mothers, said Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute, a nonprofit research group based in New York, which she said reached conclusions similar to the Pew study -- and linked the change to the arrival of Generation X.

"We found that the younger people are more family-centric than boomers are," Galinsky said. "Most young people have seen someone lose their job, and they have lived through 9/11. . ."

The Pew study of mothers showed that the appeal of part-time work crossed income and education divides.

One big change of mind-set was found among unmarried mothers. A decade ago, 49 percent preferred full-time hours; now, 26 percent do. A plurality of unmarried mothers, 46 percent, think part-time work is the best option.

Overall, mothers working part time were also the most likely to identify their current working situation as the most desirable, with 80 percent saying so. . ,.

Fathers, by comparison, were far more interested in full-time work -- with 72 percent citing it as an ideal.

The study also offered a glimpse into how mothers view their own parenting.
Just 28 percent of the mothers surveyed who work full time gave themselves the highest rating as a parent; 41 percent of mothers working part time and 43 percent of stay-at-home mothers gave themselves top marks.

In another comparison, mothers with college degrees did not rate themselves as highly as those with some time in college; mothers with a high school education or less gave themselves the highest scores.

Mothers overall rated themselves higher as parents than fathers rated themselves. . .


At New York University, sociologist Kathleen Gerson pointed out that the study might reveal a difference in definitions. Increasingly, she said, full-time work has meant 50 hours a week or more -- and that overload might be what many working mothers are rejecting. . ."

posted by maggie at 11:56 AM | Link |  

United Church of Christ Backs Gay Marriage

According to the BBC, so presumably its true we can't find anything on their website as of early this morning:

"The million-strong United Church of Christ (UCC) has become the first major US Christian denomination to come out in support of gay marriage. . ."

posted by maggie at 10:40 AM | Link |  

Religous Liberty Watch: Ocean Grove Update

More details on the Ocean Grove Camp case I realize that legally it hinges on whether the property is in fact a public accomodation. But Garden State Equality's strong endorsement of using government to force the Methodist to permit civil unions on church property also confirms for me that part of the goal of pro-SSM activists is to use the government to enforce new moral norms on dissenters, including religious dissenters. SSM (or civil unions without religious liberty clauses) will affect more than the couples who do it:

"Lesbian Couple Wants Access to Religious Property for Civil Union
". . .At a meeting of members, chief administrative officer Rev. Scott Hoffman argued that the campground had every right to prohibit civil unions. He called the pavilion a "church building" that "has always been used for worship services and gospel concerts."

The OGCMA is a Methodist organization, with a board of trustees comprising 10 pastors and 10 lay people. As such, the organization operates according to Methodist teachings, Hoffman said.

"Those who make decisions are bound to the United Methodist Book of Discipline, which states that homosexual unions cannot be performed in church buildings, whether by clergy or lay people," he said.

Hoffman also pointed out that locations not used for worship purposes - including the boardwalk and the beach - were open for civil union ceremonies.

Garden State Equality, a political action organization that represents "the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community," asked supporters to write to the OGCMA, saying the civil unions ban was an affront to the Ocean Grove community."It's hard to believe this is happening in our progressive state of New Jersey," GSE says on its website.

The organization contended that the ban was illegal, saying that it "violates the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination because the property is, in fact, public ... by virtue of having been used by the public for many years."

But the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group that is representing the OGCMA in the dispute, said that forcing the pavilion to host civil unions would be unconstitutional.Brian Raum, ADF senior legal counsel, said enforcing the complaint would intrude on the rights of the Methodists as a religious organization.

"The government shouldn't force churches to violate their own religious principles," he said. "Private, religious property owners have the right to decide what can and cannot take place on their property."

posted by maggie at 10:34 AM | Link |  

U.K.: Lesbian Bigamy

From July 9, 365gay.com:

"Lesbian Admits To Bigamy In Civil Partner Case

(London) A British woman faces jail in the first bigamy case since civil partnerships became legal in the UK in 2004.

The Civil Partnership Act was passed in 2004 and went into effect in December 2005.
It provides all of the rights and obligations of marriage but without the name. One of the provisions of the law is that a person entering into a civil partnership not already be married or partnered.

Monday Suzanne Mitchell pleaded guilty to violating the law when she falsely claimed she was single when she entered into a civil partnership with Caroline Beddows in February last year.

At the time Mitchell was still married to a man.
The marriage came to light when the relationship with Beddows soured.
Mitchell's civil partnership has since been terminated and she is back living with her husband. . ."

posted by maggie at 10:31 AM | Link |  

DO KIDS WITH TWO MOMS MISS DAD?--I THINK THE LINK

is actually here.
posted by Eve at 7:06 PM | Link |  

Do Children with Two Moms Miss Dad?

A lesbian mother of three reports no, maybe, and yes in USA Today.

UPDATE: What about children with four mums? The (Australia) Sydney Morning Herald tells a more purely happy tale of Eamon, a boy with four mothers, who apparently hasn't a care in the world. Family structures can get very complex though:

"In his case, there are one, two, three, and, at a pinch, four women who are proud to call Eamon "son". There is Mary Waterford, the mother who gave birth to him almost 21 years ago, and Jill Day, Mary's partner at the time. After they split up when Eamon was about two, Jill moved in with Sarah Dillane; and then Mary and Judy Finch became partners when Eamon was about six. All the women have been constants in his life since he can remember.

Eamon calls them "my four mothers" - and, while some might consider one mother too much, he enthuses about them all."I guess they all fulfil different aspects of parenting that I needed," says Eamon, who divided his time equally between the two households until he left high school. . .

Yet it is only natural, Eamon, thinks, that his unusual family should have left some distinctive imprint. There is the unresolved relationship with his father, for example, and the general lack of male role models in his early life.
Mary and Jill wanted Eamon to know his father, typical of lesbian parents, who are mostly acquainted with the need for children to know their biological roots. Dr Dempsey says: "The two-parent model with the involved donor is one of the most popular parenting models, but there is a continuum from no father involvement to his role as a third parent."

Jill and Mary wanted a father who was willing to be acknowledged, who would have some involvement, but not a day-to-day parenting role. Eamon, who looks like his father, and lived quite close, saw him occasionally. They had a friendly enough relationship. Yet an awkwardness remains, and emotional closeness eludes them. His father married - "Do I call his wife stepmother? There aren't enough words to describe these relationships." This "fifth" mother, Eamon says, "recognises a want in me and him, and our difficulty in doing anything about it." She has set up holidays together, and the relationship has improved.

Looking back, he understands he craved male role models, and the world of manly things. Between the mothers, he had several uncles, but most of them lived at distances. He became very close to Nick, one of Sarah's three brothers, but he died when Eamon was 12. "I was hugely affected," he says. . ."

posted by maggie at 3:51 PM | Link |  

Birth Dearth Watch: Italy

Who will care for you in your old age in a country with a birthrate approaching one child per woman? The Italian answer is: Polish nuns.
posted by maggie at 3:44 PM | Link |  

"Gayly Ever After"

A description of a number of same-sex weddings in New England from a website called "IndiaNewEngland.com" July 1-15, 2007 issue:

"Gayly ever after
New England’s same sex wedding industry booming
By MARK CONNORS

HART’S LOCATION, N.H. –— The town of Hart’s Location, perched deep in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, has only 37 residents, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. And they all might want to keep open April 14, 2008 — the day that longtime residents and local innkeepers Ed Butler and Les Shoof, after years of planning other people’s weddings, plan to celebrate their 30th anniversary together by entering into a civil union.

“The champagne’s on ice,” says Butler, 57, innkeeper at the Notchland Inn, who is also a state representative who helped get the civil union legislation signed into law earlier this year. . .

New Hampshire’s law marks something of a milestone for New England, where all six states now offer some form of legal recognition for gay couples – an anomaly in a nation where 39 states don’t recognize same sex unions in any form. And the various forms of legal recognition, from Maine’s domestic partnerships to Massachusetts’ gay marriage, has helped spur a cottage industry of planners, vendors, banquet halls and beyond, who cater specifically to same sex couples looking to make their commitments official. From cake toppers to honeymoon accommodations, gay union ceremonies, according to some industry watchers, are a $1 billion business in the United States alone. . .

One of these businesspersons is Bernadette Smith, 30, of Boston, who made a life-changing decision in the wake of the Massachusetts gay marriage decision. She decided to quit her job at a large Boston-based nonprofit group to take up wedding planning. Her business, It’s About Time Events, provides planning for non-traditional weddings and events and specializes in same-sex weddings. . .

Smith has planned about 35 same sex weddings, including some particularly unusual ones. She remembers planning an elaborate formal ceremony for one couple who then ventured off to a bowling alley for their reception, changed into traditional bowling league garb, and feasted on pizza and beer. And then there was the Pagan ceremony which included a hand-fasting ritual, in which the couples hands are clasped together in ribbon (hence the phrase “tying the knot”) and a jumping of the broom, a ritual common in African American weddings in which the couple jumps over a broom to signify the sweeping away of the old and the welcoming of the new. “A good wedding should represent the couple, showcase themselves, their cultures, their personalities,” she says.

That’s what Danny Arnon, of Somerville, Mass., and his partner of 17 years Tau Kai Lam, aimed for in their wedding ceremony almost immediately after Massachusetts’s landmark gay marriage ruling was handed down.

The couple held the ceremony in a church courtyard before holding the reception in their home and fused traditions of a Jewish wedding with Chinese elements to showcase both of their heritages. Arnon says it was important to hold the ceremony in public as an “affirmation of the relationship.”

“When you go from being a gay kid, living in the closet, thinking you’re the only one in the world, to standing in front of everyone getting married, there’s a certain triumph there that’s unique for gay people,” he says. “It signals the completion of a very personal, very arduous journey.”

Because Lam had not yet come out to his parents, only Arnon’s parents participated in the wedding, which created some unusual scenes. The ceremony included a tea service, common in Chinese weddings, in which the newlyweds serve their elders tea, and the elders then return the favor. But the only elders there to participate were Aaron’s parents.

“They’re shy people, so I think they were a little uncomfortable,” says Arnon. “But it’s funny now.”

For South Asians, the issues may be even more complex. Many have not yet even come to grips with the ruling in favor of gay marriages. For Sarav Chithambaram, of Cambridge, Mass., attending his friend Arnon’s wedding was a surreal experience. “I never imagined I’d be at a gay marriage,” he says. “I was really nervous.” . . .

Chithambaram, who is 34, has not yet come out to his parents. “I wouldn’t know what to tell them,” he says. “When it’s someone else it’s easy to say what they should do, but when it’s you, it’s totally different.”

Sitansu Mittra, a resident of Sudbury, Mass. and a Hindu priest, performed a very condensed traditional Hindu wedding ceremony for both his straight and gay sons. Mittra says there were no significant differences in how either ceremony was planned. “They were both equally significant, equally beautiful in the eyes of God,” he says. . .

The business world seems to have taken notice of this trend. Aaron says he had no trouble finding products and services for his wedding. “There’s commercial acceptance for same sex marriage,” he says. “The business world is way ahead of the political world on this one.” . . ."

posted by maggie at 3:34 PM | Link |