French Birth Rate

Today I read an article in the Everett Herald about the French birth rate going up.

French birth rate up to 2 per woman
The increase bucks the trend elsewhere in Europe, where populations are graying.

By Pierre-Yves Roger
Associated Press

I have two major issues with this article. I’ll list them in the order in which they appear.

France had more babies in 2006 than in any year in the last quarter-century, the state statistics agency said Tuesday, capping a decade of rising fertility that has bucked Europe’s graying trend.

Rising fertility? Really? The actual fertility of the French people has gone up?

France’s fertility rate has been climbing steadily since 1996, Insee said, but it still has not passed 2.1 - considered what it takes to replace a population in developed countries. The rate in the United States is 2.1.

I just don’t like this meshing of the word fertility with birthrate four times in the same article. It makes it sound like they’re just recovering from radiation and are finally able to replenish their population. It’s irritating, but acceptable. The one thing that bugs the shit out of me is at a the bottom of this article that is all about the French birthrate going up - at the end of it the reporter feels compelled to state that,

The number of French marriages is continuing to decline as more French couples are choosing to form civil unions instead, Insee said.

What the fuck does that have to do with anything at all? Marriage is nothing more than a piece of paper. Paper doesn’t prevent conception. It would have to be pretty thick fucking paper to be used as birth control and I don’t want to think about the cuts it may produce. Seriously what the fuck does marriage have to do with the birth rate in France?