Today my daughter and I drove to York to collect Granddaughter Number Two, whose first year at university has come to an end. We were both confused as we thought she was just coming home for the weekend and had a few weeks to go. Some courses are continuing but she has finished her exams and assessments - no results as yet as exam markers are on strike. And she could have stayed and socialised as her accommodation is paid for for another few weeks but she is starting work in a temporary job for Transport for Greater Manchester almost immediately. Or rather, taking up again the post she had before going off to university. They more or less head-hunted her to get her back for the summer!
As we drove up the motorway my daughter and I discussed the pros and cons of moving away to university. Granddaughter Number Two has used up most of her savings to pay tuition fees and accommodation. She could have stayed at home and travelled in every day to study at Manchester University but instead she moved out. Personally I think living independently, even though she has not lived a wild student life but has spent a fair amount of time studying in her student bedroom, has probably been good for her. We have yet to see whether the degree she obtains in a couple of years’ time, three if she decides to go on to do a masters, will guarantee her well paid employment. It’s all rather different from when those of us going to university were the minority and could walk into a job on graduation. So it goes.
My daughter also talked about staffing levels and pupil levels at the primary school where she works. Most primary schools around here are having funding problems because their pupil numbers are falling. (One down the road from our house has a huge notice advertising the availability of places for nursery and reception-age children!) Pupil numbers are falling because people are having fewer babies. People are having fewer babies because they can’t afford them. Conservative MP Miriam Cates went on about the need to have more babies at the recent National Conservativism event.
Here’s one response to her ideas:
“I’d love to be a mother. I don’t think I ever will be.
I’m 26, I’m living in my partners parents house just to try and save for a house. Who knows if that will happen soon. I studied for four years for a job that I was told would make me upwards of 40k, I am making 24k. My partner struggled to get a coffee shop job, on a zero hour contract no less.
We have talked about kids, but we will only consider them once we have not only a house, but savings and financial stability too. We are both women, and having a child isn’t cheap as it is never mind our extra need for medical intervention/IVF/Sperm Donor.
It’s a sad thing, but how do you expect people to have kids when they can barely afford to care for themselves? Or get a stable job that actually covers base expenses? Our country is slowly crumbling and falling, why would I bring a child into this madness.”
However a contributor to the newspapers’ Letters page tells us:
“A low birthrate among high-consuming, high-environmental-impact citizens of wealthy countries is good news for the planet and, if we can moderate our excessive consumption per capita, will benefit people currently paying the price for those excesses far beyond our shores. For ageing societies, despite the hysteria articulated in places such as the recent NatCon event, this is a long-anticipated demographic transition that can be managed through sensible, pragmatic policies, including on health, pensions and lifelong learning. The baby bust narrative, however, suits the socially conservative, for whom “family values” tend to come at the expense of women’s autonomy and reproductive freedom.
Alistair Currie
Head of campaigns, Population Matters”.
And while we think about children and education, here’s a link to Michael Rosen’s blog, where he gives his criticism of the latest standard tests in Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling for year 6 children. It makes for interesting reading. And you don’t need to know all the (possibly invented) grammatical terminology to understand what he has to say.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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