Taking control of our fertility

Statistics Canada says:

• In the last ten years, fertility rates have dropped 13 percent.


• The biggest declines are in the high-risk years from 15 to 17 and in all ages up to 29.


• At slightly older ages, the rates are rising as women decide it's time to have a baby.

This is excellent news. It shows that sex education is working. Younger women are able to get contraceptives and willing to use them.

Source: the 2003 figures for total pregnancies in Canada (29 March 2006). These are pregnancies per 1 000 women, not total numbers, so they are not affected by the aging of the baby boom nor its echo.