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In this third decade of the 21st century, discussion of women's labour-force participation and its impact on fertility continues. While evidence points to a decline in overall fertility rates in most industrialized countries, a direct link to women's labour-force activity - the work-fertility trade-off - is not always clear. Cultural, economic and sociological factors have greatly affected the roles women play in society, which have in turn contributed to declining fertility. Another often overlooked factor is the impact of increasingly longer and complex life-course transitions into adulthood which compress the period of fertility. While these topics have often been discussed in isolation, this paper synthesizes these topics in a demographic overview of women's changing roles. The current pandemic with its impact on labour-force activity (dubbed the "shecession") and associated declines in fertility has driven home the need for supportive social policies that can contribute to balancing the earning and unpaid caring roles by enhancing the ability of women to engage in the labour force and meet their fertility aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An earlier study revealed that conflict over the issue of intergenerational equity (referring to equality in treatment for different generations) was apparent in the US media during the 1980s and early 1990s while attention to this issue was virtually non-existent in Canada. The focus for discussions on this issue is the distribution of the economic costs of an aging population. Specifically, with an aging population, the growth in elderly dependents is a significant concern for countries with pay-as-you-go public pension systems. This research analyzes public discussion of the intergenerational equity issue from 1993 to 1998 through content analysis of print media. The number of articles on this issue grew and peaked in 1996 with a sharp decline in 1997 and 1998. The issue of intergenerational equity surfaced in Canada during the mid-1990s with the fear that the Canada Pension Plan might run dry during the 2010s under then-current contribution rates. The pension issue serves as a flashpoint for recent concerns of intergenerational equity in Canada.

The issue of generations in the workplace has garnered much attention since the beginning of the 21st century, but what is often missing from this discussion is an examination of the generational, work and career pattern changes that have occurred in the postwar era. This paper presents a demographic analysis of cultural/generational changes in tandem with an analysis of shifts in business practices and career patterns as these relate to the practice of performance appraisal. It concludes that a performance management process that adopts a developmental approach to improve future employee performance makes more sense in today's workplaces given cultural/generational and career pattern shifts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Studies in Population is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Studies in Population is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)