Babies!

                        Health and a long life to you.

                        Land without rent to you.

                        A child every year to you.

                        And if you can’t go to heaven,

                        May you at least die in Ireland.

                                                            -An Irish Blessing

I have been taken with the children of Ireland since soon after my arrival.  First, I find them remarkably hale and hearty and, with the exception of (perhaps universal?) occasional bad grocery store behavior, genial.  Second, there seems to be an abundance of children and pregnant women.

I wondered if there are more children in Ireland or if I was just more likely to see children here than at home.  In Ireland I walk in the park and through the city center and to the grocery store and post office, etc.  In the U.S., I walk on my treadmill and drive around in my car.  I don’t pay a lot of attention to who is in the cars around me.  For all I know, they are bursting with babies and children. 

As it turns out, I really am seeing a lot of children.  Ireland’s birth rate (16.8 per 1000) is the highest in the European Union (average of 10.7 per 1000).  In contrast, the 2009 U.S. birth rate (13.5 per 1000) fell to its lowest level in a century.

Recently I saw a report that stated that in 2008, 73,996 babies were born in Ireland.  This is the largest number in one year since 1980.  The report speculated that the baby boom might be due to the good economic times Ireland recently experienced.  Perhaps couples put off having their first child while they became established in their careers.  The most popular age for women giving birth in 2008 fell between 30 and 34 (up from the late 20s and early 30s).

Perhaps the recession will impact the number of children born in the near future.  The high birth rate will certainly impact the economy during what is already a difficult time; it will strain childcare, education and health services. Ireland has the largest number of people leaving the country in the European Union (9 per 1000).  Lithuania has the second highest outflow and their number is just under half of Ireland’s.

Now that the days are longer and the weather has taken a turn for the lovely, I expect to see even more young children out and about in the parks and on the street and, God help their parents, in the grocery store.