Click here to submit a question for our live Q&A, taking place Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 1 p.m. ET
In the face of untenable costs of living, soaring home prices, a precarious gig economy, lingering pandemic burnout and environmental uncertainty, many young couples are choosing not to have children. More than a third of 15 to 49 year olds said they did not intend to have any children, according to 2022 figures from Statistics Canada.
As young people make these important life decisions, their baby boomer parents face a future at odds with what they’d envisioned: one where they never become grandparents in their senior years. Many boomers were brought up to believe that grandparenting brings fulfilment in the elder years, and now feel untethered once they realize that this stage of life has fallen through. But the shift is prompting a reckoning within families, and delicate conversations about what was supposed to be, what won’t be, and what can be embraced instead.
On Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 1 p.m. ET, Globe and Mail national news reporter Zosia Bielski will be answering all your questions about her feature on grandchildless baby boomers. You must be a subscriber in order to ask a question or leave a comment, while registered users can still view the questions and responses. In order to submit a question, just sign into your Globe account, scroll down to the comments section of this article and submit a question.
How are young adults communicating their family plans to their parents? How are baby boomers coping with the perceived loss of the best of their golden years? Tune in on Tuesday for the answers to these questions and more.
You can read the article here, and listen to Bielski discuss grandchildless baby boomers on The Decibel.