We are running out of kids?

[Non-Believer]

27 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said:

BBC News - Isle of Man birth rate sees decade of 'extraordinary' decline
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-58171429

It's another facet of the whole place being in decline. In fact the only aspect that is bucking the trend is Govt numbers.

Sooner or later we aren't going to need all these people to administer declining numbers, what will they all do then? Invent more convolution for processes which helps drive people away, in the name of justifying their jobs? It's not only hugely artificial, it's also hugely damaging.

These numbers are sucking the life out of this Island, both financially and in what they are doing to the quality of life.

 

[asitis]

Christ, is there no topic which doesn't attach blame to the older generation ? I am the older generation now, but when I moved here I wasn't. In that time we've had two children who thankfully also live here, and who now have increased the population by a further four, I pay a decent amount of income tax in relation to retirement, and believe me if I didn't have to get old I wouldn't ! I fucking hate it ! However this islands ills are not my fault, nor the fault of thousands like me, who , by a lifetime of work have propped up the morons running the place to bring us to where we are !

So if you seek to lash blame around look at the fucking idiot policies by those elected, and the amount of money wasted which has without doubt killed the vibrancy of the place, and look at the red tape and rampant bureaucracy killing everything in its path.

Rant over coffee time.   ( Not aimed at all posters LOL !)

 

[The Phantom]

10 hours ago, Albert Tatlock said:

As to less going onto 6th form, this drop is interesting as a comparison of the 2016 and 2021 censuses shows that the number of kids available to be heading to high school is much the same.

Needs a lot more looking into and a lot of other data before any conclusions can be drawn (e.g. impact of covid schooling on this age group, how many families have left island, business closures, business job relocation, 10% more kids than 10yrs ago not going to Uni etc. etc.)

I think part of this is due to back in the day tradie jobs would earn significantly less than offices and such.  Nowadays the blue and white collar job salaries seem to have come more in line.  

Late 90s early 00s it seems anyone who wasn't a drop out was expected to Uni ending up with largely pointless and irrelevant degrees.  This was in the days you didn't have to pay for it though. 

Also a lot more training is available on the job. 

[Albert Tatlock]

A lot more data is needed to properly understand this. As well as what I mentioned earlier, there may even be a  post-Brexit factor too.

(e.g. impact of covid schooling on this age group, how many families have left island, business closures, business job relocation, 10% more kids than 10yrs ago not going to Uni etc. etc.)

[GD4ELI]

58 minutes ago, Albert Tatlock said:

A lot more data is needed to properly understand this. As well as what I mentioned earlier, there may even be a  post-Brexit factor too.

(e.g. impact of covid schooling on this age group, how many families have left island, business closures, business job relocation, 10% more kids than 10yrs ago not going to Uni etc. etc.)

Could be. My mother taught at Ballaugh, ~5 years after a recession her class size would drop dramatically.

[Andy Onchan]

Since the last global economic fallout in 2008, which kind of ties in with the lower 6th Form numbers, I suspect a lot of couples/families have thought twice about starting or enlarging their family unit due to the impact that these financial crises have had on their wallets/purses. Women are certainly having children later in life and so family units tend to be smaller. The numbers are out there and I suspect it's not just an IOM issue. 

[Non-Believer]

17 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said:

Since the last global economic fallout in 2008, which kind of ties in with the lower 6th Form numbers, I suspect a lot of couples/families have thought twice about starting or enlarging their family unit due to the impact that these financial crises have had on their wallets/purses.

I alluded to this too and it's still in full flow here and much of it is of our own making.

[slinkydevil]

25 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said:

The numbers are out there and I suspect it's not just an IOM issue. 

Worldwide: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/charted-rapid-decline-of-global-birth-rates/

[cissolt]

Chairman Alf should create a Manx Order of Parental Glory medal.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Parental_Glory#:~:text=The Order of Parental Glory,Soviet Order "Mother Heroine".

[Cambon]

13 hours ago, Non-Believer said:

I would ask anybody with a memory of the times to compare Douglas Promenade of a Friday or Saturday night in the early and mid 90s to the same location and nights today.

Then tell me that nightlife hasn't been destroyed and/or we aren't in a recession or something equating to it.

Different times. A lot more young people don’t drink these days. They are not interested in going out as much. They prefer to spend time with friends talking, go for a pizza, Netflix and chill. That sort of thing. 
Netflix did not exist back then, nor did smartphones, ipads, and so many other things that are here and relevant to day to day life. 
CrazyDave mentioned loads of night venues in his post. I could add to it. But they were not all there at the same time. It has always been three or four venues and that is still true today. Times and requirements have changed and so have the types venues. 

[WTF]

1 hour ago, cissolt said:

Chairman Alf should create a Manx Order of Parental Glory medal.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Parental_Glory#:~:text=The Order of Parental Glory,Soviet Order "Mother Heroine".

get the radfords to move over here , that should up the numbers a bit.

[Fred the shred]

A young person I know has recently gone to IOM University College a couple of friends wanted to move up to sixth form and continue their education but could not as they did not have the required grades in their GCE s.  Progressing to sixth form is not a given perhaps Covid induced lock down has had more of an adverse effect than is perceived.   Interestingly another young person has just qualified, apprentice time served and college training, as a plumber he is now earning substantially more than his friend who went to University and is now doing office work with a student loan to furnish.    I do realise that in the future the positions may be reversed with promotions , pensions taken into consideration but at least the plumber will never be short of work and his skills would be welcomed world wide.   It has made me think regarding further education is it all it is cracked up to be.

[Moghrey Mie]

Some of the smaller schools on the island would have been closed years ago in UK.

[CrazyDave]

1 hour ago, Moghrey Mie said:

Some of the smaller schools on the island would have been closed years ago in UK.

Same as the swimming pools then.

[Spyk3r]

My take on this is simply that people don't have resources available. There are a number of points which I have listed below;

 

1. Full time nursery care costs are in excess of £50 a day for a child aged 1-2. So if both parents are working full time - this bill can be in excess of £1050 a month.

2. People who have immigrated here don't have family support systems they had in their home country/country of origin.

3. When children get sick, they are excluded from Nursery (reasonably so), but you don't get the day fee back - so you end up losing out on the day fees of up to £100 as well as having to take time off work to tend to your sick child.

4. Housing costs (rent/mortgage/Gas/electric) have shot through the roof since covid and subsequently the Russian/Ukraine war and Gaza/Israel, and don't really look like they are coming down any time soon. 

Not to mention inflation has had a massive impact on cost of living - which I am sure we are all feeling at this point.

Granted, these kids wouldn't be in school yet - they would likely still be in nursery still (Born during/after covid). But even from 2019 to now everything has increased in cost, and yet wages/salaries have remained largely the same or only slightly higher (unless you work for the largest employer on the Isle of Man of course).