In the 1024th year of the Emperor's Reign
Brought to you by the Office for Media Affairs
DAMING DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
The Adeptus Administratum has today begun the work of preparing for the annual review of taxes and conscriptions that take place every late spring. The process involves the Adeptus Administratum painstakingly reviewing data from each of the nations within the Empire to allow a fair and just negotiation to take place between the Empire and its constitute parts. Some of the figures released by the Adeptus Administratum however have raised concerns which have already begun to be addressed by the Regent Prince Maximus Astralix.
The first, and perhaps most worrying, piece of data is that the birth rate is falling. In 2014 the birth rate across the Empire was 8.7 births per 1000 people. This however has now dropped to around 7.2 per 1000. This slowing down in birth rates means that in the long term the nation may face shortages in labour, conscription and have difficultly covering the old age pensions of those retiring. The Regent however has stated that this is to be addressed swiftly. "I believe that family is important and that it forms the very cornerstone of the Empire. The Emperor fought to create this Empire not for personal glory but to ensure his family and those of his supporters were safe. It is our primary duty therefore to create, support and care for families. With immediate effect I have asked the Adeptus Administratum to begin preparing documents that would make it easier for families wishing to have children but findiing it difficult to do so. Our current health care provision will be extended to make accessing things such as IVF easier. Currently IVF is only permitted via our health care system if the mother is under the age of 30 and has a strong chance of it working. We will increase that age to 40 and allow doctors to take more of a gamble in terms of the likely success. In addition anyone wishing the process done privately and who has served five years in the military will be given financial support to do so. We have also begun a plan to lessen incidents of abortion but women need not fear a ban. Currently around 43 abortions per 10000 women take place annually. That figure is far too high for each human life is sacred. I would like to see a scenario where the only time abortion is used is for cases where the mothers life is in danger. To try and effect this we will make it part of the abortion process that a health care professional must offer the chance to speak with a representative of adoption agencies to offer this is a viable alternative. Mothers choosing to accept this meeting and subsequently go ahead with their pregnancy we shall support financially through their pregnancy and offer counselling after. It is our hope that this support will see more women carry to term and then have their child adopted into loving homes."
The second piece of data was the average family size. This had decreased from 2.1 children per family in 2014 to 1.8 in 2024. The Regent restated the importance of family. "Families are not just vital for increasing our population steadily. Mothers and Fathers are the first teachers in a childs life, they are their first doctors and nurses. Without the family we do not learn the vital social skills that we have in life nor do we learn to value the qualities of friendship, love, loyalty and respect. These are vital if we are to have a strong community. It is my dream that all families can flourish. We will therefore do our best to find extra funding for support for new families. I would like to see the figure of average family size closer to 3 than it currently is." The Regent has three children and four grandchildren.
Another downward trend was in terms of life expectancy. In 2014 this stood at 80.4 while in 2024 this has fallen to 79.8. The Regent said, "While this number is not a catastrophe it is a worrying trend. I can only think of various virus outbreaks in the last decade which will have made this fall. We must though do more to support people in their campaign for health."
Finally the report stated that obesity levels in adults had increased from 17% in 20214 to 19% by 2024. "This is an unacceptable trend. Every subject of the Emperor needs to be fit and healthy for when the time comes to face evil. We see people now reporting for military duty unable to do even the most basic of cardiovascular exercises. This obviously will also impact or life expectancy, fertility rates and several other key pieces of data. We therefore will begin addressing this as a priority. One concern we have is that many people are now eating processed foods which contain high amounts of fats and sugars on a daily basis. This needs to be addressed. We will be looking at longer term methods in the near future however a twin pilot project will take place in Catachan. Here students in schools will be given lessons on cooking from fresh ingredients hopefully meaning we equip them with the skills to have a better diet. We must though also address the means to have a better diet. We will therefore be giving each pupil a pre-paid debit card which can only be used in certain stores for unprocessed fruit and vegetables. This will amount to $10 per pupil per week. It is our hope this will begin to encourage more healthy eating habits. If the scheme is successful we shall examine other ways this can be rolled out across the whole Empire."
The Adeptus Administratum and the Regent will open negotiations with Catachan next week to discuss their annual payments and conscriptions.
