A letter to Peace Arch News argues that White Rock should plan now for many more older residents, and that the Kent Street Seniors Centre should grow rather than shrink.
The writer starts with the birth rate. British Columbia’s fertility rate, the number of children a woman has in her lifetime, is 1, the letter says, among the lowest in the world. Demographers put the level needed to hold a population steady at 2.1. At 1, the letter says, the province faces a severe drop in population, with fewer children in schools, fewer schools, and a much higher share of seniors.
Countries with very low fertility rates have struggled to turn them around, and few have managed it. The writer calls the idea that B.C. can do better “perhaps dreaming.”
Immigration can help, the letter allows. But newcomers to the province have largely been between 30 and 45, an age group unlikely to lift that figure of 1.
The conclusion is aimed at the seniors centre. Any decision on the Kent Street facility, the writer says, will need to mean more capacity and better usability. It will cost money. “There appears to be very little choice.”
The letter opens by addressing White Rock “and other cities/municipalities,” saying the future will require much more catering for seniors, and caring for them.
