Migrants are needed to stop population decline in Scotland, a new report has found.

New Zealand’s birthrate dropped to its lowest ever level in 2020, well below the population replacement rate of 2.1. The country’s declining birthrate is in line with trends seen in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan and the US, among others.

The country’s total fertility rate dropped to 1.61 births per woman of child-bearing age (15–49 years), the latest fall in a decade-old trend.

Most babies registered in 2020 were conceived before New Zealand moved to Covid-19 lockdown on 25 March last year, said Hamish Slack at Statistics NZ.

“Fertility rates in New Zealand were relatively stable between 1980 and 2012, but have generally decreased since then,” said Slack. “Since 2013, the number of women of reproductive age has increased by 11% and the number of births has decreased by 2%.”

In 2020, there were 57,753 live births registered in New Zealand, down 2,064 (3%) from the previous year.

Demographer Prof Paul Spoonley from Massey University forecasts for the next 20 years indicated many families would have either one child or be childless.

He said “The results of the demographic transition which we’re going through now is something we’ve never encountered before,” he said. “We’ve never had a society in which one in four people is aged over 65, for example. It is unprecedented.”

New Zealand birthrate sinks to its lowest ever | New Zealand | The Guardian

New Zealand’s birthrate dropped to its lowest ever level in 2020, well below the population replacement rate of 2.1. The country’s declining birthrate is in line with trends seen in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan and the US, among others.

The country’s total fertility rate dropped to 1.61 births per woman of child-bearing age (15–49 years), the latest fall in a decade-old trend.

Most babies registered in 2020 were conceived before New Zealand moved to Covid-19 lockdown on 25 March last year, said Hamish Slack at Statistics NZ.

“Fertility rates in New Zealand were relatively stable between 1980 and 2012, but have generally decreased since then,” said Slack. “Since 2013, the number of women of reproductive age has increased by 11% and the number of births has decreased by 2%.”

In 2020, there were 57,753 live births registered in New Zealand, down 2,064 (3%) from the previous year.

Demographer Prof Paul Spoonley from Massey University forecasts for the next 20 years indicated many families would have either one child or be childless.

He said “The results of the demographic transition which we’re going through now is something we’ve never encountered before,” he said. “We’ve never had a society in which one in four people is aged over 65, for example. It is unprecedented.”

New Zealand birthrate sinks to its lowest ever | New Zealand | The Guardian

 The Common Sense Group of Conservative MPs has proposed that the 1,761 recipients of the Victoria Cross and George Cross be immortalised with a statue in their place of birth. 

The Common Sense Group’s campaign has been warmly greeted by both the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, who said he “looked forward to discussing these ideas further”

Sir John Hayes, the chair of the Common Sense Group,  “Tragically, too many who have given and achieved so much have been all but forgotten. In many places, locals may be unaware that they tread in the footsteps of heroes. Which is why the Common Sense Group has launched a campaign to honour every recipient of the VC and GC through the erection of a statue, immortalising them in their place of birth. Where this is not practically possible, these heroes could be recognised by a plaque or have a public building, park or road named or renamed after them.”

More war hero statues ‘wholly retrograde’ move, says UK women’s group | Heritage | The Guardian

 In Colombia, Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), which was set up as part of the peace process after the left-wing Farc rebels signed the 2016 peace deal with the government. The JEP is a transitional court system which was put in place for a period of 10 years to try all participants in the conflict, be they rebels or state members. Those who admit to their crimes up front will avoid jail time, but will be required to contribute in other ways to reconciliation – such as participating in programmes to remove landmines, build key infrastructure or construct monuments.

 Mexico has made a plea at the UN security council for countries to stop hoarding vaccines against Covid-19 as poorer ones fall behind in the race to vaccinate their citizens.

Three-quarters of the first doses have been administered to citizens in only 10 countries while in more than 100 countries no vaccines have been applied at all.

 “We urge countries to avoid hoarding vaccines and accelerate the first stages of Covax deliveries, to give priority to countries with fewer resources,” Ebrard said. “It is urgent to act, to reverse the injustice that is being committed because the security of all humanity depends on it,” Ebrard said.

So far no vaccines have been distributed under the global Covax initiative. Officials from the Pan American Health Organization said on Wednesday that countries could expect confirmation of their Covax vaccine shipments soon, although the first batches were expected to be small.

Mexico calls on rich countries not to hoard coronavirus vaccines | Mexico | The Guardian

 Malnutrition in children has risen across India in recent years. Most Indian women are anaemic and poor women, especially so. And since undernourished mothers give birth to undernourished babies, experts say the worsening rate of malnutrition could be a result of women struggling to access nutrition benefits.

India’s latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS), which shows that children in several states are more undernourished now than they were five years ago, is based on data collected in 2019-20. The survey was conducted in only 22 states before the onset of the pandemic – so experts fear the results will be much worse in the remaining states, where the survey began after the lockdown ended.

In Dahod, a rural and largely tribal district in India’s western state of Gujarat, has seen a steep rise in the proportion of undernourished children compared with 2015-16, when the last survey was conducted. Stunting among children under five in Dahodis up from 44% to 55%. And the proportion of severely underweight children in the district has risen from 7.8% to 13.4%.

Many families in Dahod migrate to cities to eke out a better living. But that also means being left out of massive government schemes that are mostly delivered at local level – so benefits aren’t easily transferred across districts or states. This is despite the fact that there are three different schemes offering maternity and nutrition benefits to women in Gujarat.

Experts say “exclusion” is one of the main reasons for rising malnutrition levels across India. While migration creates geographical exclusion, bureaucracy and its need for documentation creates a form of social and economic exclusion.

Aadhar, the biometric government ID scheme, is a must-have for accessing nearly every social welfare programme in India. But a system that was meant to serve the poor more swiftly has often been accused of failing them. The poor have complained that linking the ID to their bank accounts or updating it with new information – such as when they migrate for work – involves multiple trips to government offices that they cannot afford. Despite the existence of government schemes, many women are unable to access them because of a lack of documents.

Malnutrition is rising across India – why? – BBC News

 Life expectancy in the United States dropped a staggering one year during the first half of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic caused its first wave of deaths. Minorities suffered the biggest impact, with Black Americans losing nearly three years and Hispanics, nearly two years. Black people now lag white people by six years in life expectancy, reversing a trend that had been bringing their numbers closer since 1993. Between 2019 and the first half of 2020, life expectancy decreased 2.7 years for Black people, to 72. It dropped 1.9 years for Hispanics, to 79.9, and 0.8 years for white people, to 78. 

“This is a huge decline,” said Robert Anderson, who oversees the numbers for the CDC. “You have to go back to World War II, the 1940s, to find a decline like this.”

“What is really quite striking in these numbers is that they only reflect the first half of the year … I would expect that these numbers would only get worse,” said Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, a health equity researcher and dean at the University of California, San Francisco. “Black and Hispanic communities throughout the United States have borne the brunt of this pandemic,” Bibbins-Domingo said.

 Health experts say it shows the profound impact of COVID-19, not just on deaths directly due to infection but also from heart disease, cancer and other conditions.

Life expectancy is how long a baby born today can expect to live, on average. In the first half of last year, that was 77.8 years for Americans overall, down one year from 78.8 in 2019. For males it was 75.1 years and for females, 80.5 years.

Dr. Otis Brawley, a cancer specialist and public health professor at Johns Hopkins University, said, overall, the drop in life expectancy is more evidence of “our mishandling of the pandemic. “We have been devastated by the coronavirus more so than any other country. We are 4% of the world’s population, more than 20% of the world’s coronavirus deaths.” 

US life expectancy drops a year in pandemic, most since WWII (apnews.com)

USA is the most expensive country in the world to have a baby, there is no way of knowing the bill in advance, and you can potentially be charged just for holding your newborn baby  (You can be charged $40 )

 It’s the only developed country without mandated paid maternity leave; in some states, however, short-term disability insurance covers your income for a few weeks while you recover from the birth.

Even with decent insurance, you can expect to pay a few thousand dollars out-of-pocket for an uncomplicated birth. Indeed, the cost of delivering a regular American baby is more than that of delivering a Royal baby in the UK.

 Nobody in the US healthcare system can ever tell you how much anything costs. They just tell you to call your health insurance company, who tell you to call the hospital’s billing department, who put you on hold then tell you to call your insurance company. Three weeks later, you get a bill. Even though your hospital is covered by your health insurance, one of the specialists who comes into contact with your newborn might not be. The paediatrician may be out of network so not recognised by her insurance provider and so is extra.

80% of medical bills contain errors and these almost always seem to be over-charging rather than under-charging you. 

Despite getting massively marked-up care – the USA has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world.

My partner is pregnant – and the cost of giving birth in the US is stressing me out | Pregnancy | The Guardian

Workers at fast-food restaurant chains in 15 cities around the US went on strike on Tuesday demanding a raise in their minimum wage to $15 an hour.

The workers at McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s, joined by home care and nursing home workers, took action.

Strikes occurred in Charleston, South Carolina; Chicago; Flint and Detroit, Michigan; Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina; Houston; Miami, Orlando, and Tampa, Florida; St. Louis; Oakland, Sacramento, and San Jose, California; and Milwaukee. 

“We hear you out there applauding essential workers. We see the big show you make of thanking us. But to be honest, that hasn’t translated into changes for my life. We were living on a razor’s edge long before Covid-19 hit South Carolina. And we’re living on it still,” said Taiwanna Milligan, a McDonald’s worker in Charleston who makes $8.75 an hour after working at the restaurant chain for eight years.

Ieishia Franceis has worked at Freddy’s Frozen Custards in west Durham, North Carolina since July 2020 and makes $9.20 an hour, explained, “Sometimes businesses get so caught up in doing business that they forget who runs their businesses. We’re going to keep fighting and not going to stop until we get all the equality we’re fighting for.” 

 47% of essential workers are in occupations where the median wage is currently less than $15 an hour. 

US workers go on strike in 15 cities to demand $15-an-hour minimum wage | Minimum wage | The Guardian