Good morning, and welcome to the weekend.
Grab your cup of coffee or tea, and sit down with a selection of this week’s great reads from The Globe and Mail.
In this issue, shrinking birth rates are shifting Canadian demographics and creating a number of ripple effects, including the realization among many baby boomers that becoming a grandparent isn’t in the cards for them. This has caused a reckoning within many families – fraught, delicate conversations about what was supposed to be, what won’t be, and what can be embraced instead. Reporter Zosia Bielski spoke to some of these families for a feature story and found at least one hopeful trend through interviews and her research.
“There are people who are willing to be creative and take care of their friends’ kids or their coworkers’ kids and really get some fulfillment out of it,” she says. “It bucked the received wisdom that you can only get this fulfillment if the child is your own blood, your own brood.”
As the Bank of Canada continues efforts to keep the economy near its target inflation rate of 2 per cent, there is a secondary goal, too: to improve the economic models it uses to produce quarterly forecasts, which proved inadequate in predicting the spike in inflation that followed pandemic lockdowns. In a Report on Business cover story, reporter Mark Rendell reports on the central bank’s major overhaul of its macroeconomic models, which could be in use by 2025.
Food addiction is one of the major, unacknowledged drivers of the obesity and diabetes crises in North America, says author Dr. Vera Tarman. Despite that, food producers are taking advantage of consumers by engineering ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) that taste better and last longer than they used to but provide little in the way of healthy calories and actually encourage cravings. After auditing her pantry, feature writer Gayle MacDonald talked to health professionals about what UPFs do to our brains, and how to break the habit.
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Baby boomers are adjusting to a new retirement normal: No grandchildren
Ziny Kirshenbaum of Thornhill, Ont., says it’s not easy when friends return from stints babysitting their grandchildren and air minor complaints about the little ones. “At least you have grandchildren,” she tells them.Jennifer Roberts/The Globe and Mail
On the heels of a pandemic baby bust, Canada reported its lowest birth rates in nearly two decades last year. Many boomer-aged parents who wanted grandchildren are realizing they won’t be grandparents, as younger couples choose not to procreate in the face of untenable costs of living, soaring home prices, a precarious gig economy, post-pandemic burnout and environmental uncertainty. Zosia Bielski looks at the loss, disappointment but also relief and liberation of the grandchildless, as well as creative approaches to grandparenting non-biological children.
The Bank of Canada prepares for a future that does not look like the past
Tiff Macklem, Governor of the Bank of Canada, says he is expecting less volatility in the Canadian economy in the coming years.PATRICK DOYLE/Reuters
Central bankers don’t have crystal balls. No matter how sophisticated, no economic model could have predicted the speed of vaccine development or the outbreak of a major European war. But models can at least identify key economic forces and provide a rough road map for where inflation is heading. Yet through much of 2021 and early 2022, the Bank of Canada’s models came up short. Mark Rendell reports on how the central bank is now re-engineering the way it models the economy, trying to see into a future that will unquestionably deviate from historical patterns.
Scientists tricked our brains into craving ultra-processed foods – and now people are fighting back
Illustration by Allison & Cam
Potato chips, cookies, granola bars and even yogurt are heavily processed, and manufactured to make us want more. After learning more about the hidden dangers of ultraprocessed foods, Gayle Macdonald speaks to experts who say it’s time to break the habit – and offers tips on how to avoid ultraprocessed groceries.
Civilians with no combat skills attend a National Resistance Drill Course arranged by Kyiv City Administration, in Kyiv region, on Jan. 19, 2024.Anton Skyba/The Globe and Mail
After almost two years of war, and with the larger Russian army again pressing forward along the 1,000-kilometre front line in the east and south of the country, the Ukrainian army desperately needs an influx of new soldiers. The number of new soldiers required – between 450,000 and 500,000 – has surprised Ukrainian society. With fears growing that Ukraine may embark on a mass mobilization, some civilians are trying to take control of their fate.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu cast shadows on a U.S. flag in Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S., Dec. 12, 2023.BRIAN SNYDER/Reuters
As a spectator sport, New Hampshire’s presidential primary is the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Stanley Cup final, the Iditarod and the Indianapolis 500 all in one – an iconic, colourful testing ground with its own history, folklore and customs, often attracting political tourists from out of state. All New Hampshire primaries are different, writes David Shribman. But this one is marked by the presence of a former U.S. president who has stratospheric polling numbers – along with 91 indictments.
Lifting the curse: On the historical, pervasive shaming of menstruation
Mary Kirkpatrick/The Globe and Mail
That time of the month, Aunt Flo, surfing the crimson tide, moon time, the curse, the visitor, my girl, Carrie, the English have landed and shark week – all euphemisms for menstruation which, while oftentimes creative and wry, also come as a result of the inability to discuss menstruation openly. Much of the silencing is patriarchal – as if the very biology that drives humanity is dirty. But there are real consequences to not being able to speak freely about menstruation. Period-related social isolation can affect schooling, the ability to support oneself financially, and even health. Dr. Jen Gunter explains in an essay adapted from her new book Blood: The Science, Medicine, and Mythology of Menstruation.
Actor Tom Rooney, long a favourite of Canadian theatregoers, is coming off one of the most critically acclaimed seasons of his career – and is heading into one of his most high profile.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
For critic Kelly Nestruck, what’s surprising to learn about Tom Rooney after years of being riveted by his risk-taking on stage, is how different his energy is in an interview. He’s soft-spoken, humble and grateful – and steers questions away from anything controversial or gossipy. Nestruck sat down with the Saskatchewan-raised actor, and those who have worked with him, to find out what’s behind his ability to continue growing, learning and pleasing audiences.
Bonus: Elton John now has EGOT status. Do you know what the acronym stands for?
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Mason Wright