Actually, I'm pretty sure France has a birth rate slightly above what's necessary for generation renewal. I think it's mostly due to the fact that it's relatively easy (i.e. not very easy but easier than in many other countries) to work AND have children here because there are a lot of kindergartens and children stay at school most of the day from age 3 (obviously for the small kids, school is actually like kindergartens with a nap in the afternoon, etc.).
This is also part of a more general trend: people have more kids and marry slightly earlier than ten years ago from what I heard, but paradoxically I think it's because compared with my parents' generation for example, the pressure to do that has lessened so much that now people feel they can do it out of love and enthusiasm, and not because their parents want them to, which I guess is much more motivating :)
Iceland I think also have a fairly healthy birth rate, and their policy for equality between men and women at work is one of the best. When a child is born, both its parents have a long "parenting leave" so the dad doesn't go back straight to work, leaving the mum coping on her own. As a consequence, employers do not have more qualms hiring young women than young men. I guess I'm getting a bit off topic, but what I'm trying to say is that signs of "healthy natality" should not be looked for in teenagers having sex with random guys without contraception but in societies where people try to make work compatible with family and do not promote a model where the man works all the time to make enough money for the family and rarely sees them while the woman stays at home all the time to take care of her kids.
PS: that post was incredibly long, I confess I skipped over some bits.
PPS: also, I'm not kissing the ground everyday thanking my country for allowing abortion, but almost. Of course it's not a 'good' thing in the sense that it's awful having to go through it, and everybody in their right mind would rather never have to go through it. That's why it's important to be very careful with contraception. But if contraception fails, then it's important to have that possibility. I think unwanted pregnancy is one of the scariest thing in the world.
natality rate
This is also part of a more general trend: people have more kids and marry slightly earlier than ten years ago from what I heard, but paradoxically I think it's because compared with my parents' generation for example, the pressure to do that has lessened so much that now people feel they can do it out of love and enthusiasm, and not because their parents want them to, which I guess is much more motivating :)
Iceland I think also have a fairly healthy birth rate, and their policy for equality between men and women at work is one of the best.
When a child is born, both its parents have a long "parenting leave" so the dad doesn't go back straight to work, leaving the mum coping on her own. As a consequence, employers do not have more qualms hiring young women than young men.
I guess I'm getting a bit off topic, but what I'm trying to say is that signs of "healthy natality" should not be looked for in teenagers having sex with random guys without contraception but in societies where people try to make work compatible with family and do not promote a model where the man works all the time to make enough money for the family and rarely sees them while the woman stays at home all the time to take care of her kids.
PS: that post was incredibly long, I confess I skipped over some bits.
PPS: also, I'm not kissing the ground everyday thanking my country for allowing abortion, but almost. Of course it's not a 'good' thing in the sense that it's awful having to go through it, and everybody in their right mind would rather never have to go through it. That's why it's important to be very careful with contraception. But if contraception fails, then it's important to have that possibility. I think unwanted pregnancy is one of the scariest thing in the world.