You only have to walk the streets of Cuban cities, or visit any place, to realize that everywhere you find a great amount of old people, something that certainly has a good side and one not as good.
According to studies that target that issue, the country has a progressive population aging, with a noticeable increase in recent years, hence it is expected that by 2020 about 400 thousand Cubans will turn 80 and over and it is estimated also that the very elders will be the 25 percent of the population, making Cuba the country with the oldest population in Latin America, and one of the world’s by 2050.
Currently the group with six or more decades of age is estimated at two million, which should increase to 3.6 million in 2035, which would mean a significant strain on social security, the Cuban health system, and the availability of workforce.
If we use a little imagination, and we could take a peek at the future in a few years, surely we would see that would be many more older people than now, fewer youngsters people and children would be absent in that reality. It is simple math.
Many acknowledge that this is due to the sustainable progress made in the Cuban social development, which has translated into an remarkable increase in the country’s life expectancy for both sexes, which binds to a decrease in births.
In the face of this situation is relevant to ask: What are the causes for that situation in Cuba today? Why people are delaying having offsprings? Several could be the responses and the analysis, but it is my belief that sometimes the decision to have children is shared by the couple, and in others it is only the woman’s concern to decide to reproduce independently, although the result is the same in both cases: the absence of births, with major consequences in the case of girls, who would, a few years later, guarantee the offspring.
I think in general, youngsters think they can wait till a riper age, and the priority is for personal development that will bring forward a more favorable economic situation; another factor is the high cost of living, especially when is known that the arrival of a child brings additional costs to families. Another constraint is the lack of housing, often in a home we see a shortage of space since several generations share the same roof, lowing down considerably the possibilities of having children.
Author
Teresa Valenzuela
