The shrinking Cuban family

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Cuba’s population declined by more than 4,300 last year, the first drop in more than 25 years and an indication that the island’s economic difficulties might be discouraging Cuban couples from having more than one child.

The number of live births fell by 8%, with 111,084 Cubans born last year in comparison with 120,716 in 2005, according to the Center for Population Studies and Development.

Center director Juan Carlos Alfonso didn’t provide the current population figure in his account to the Communist Party daily Granma and the Prensa Latina news agency. But the CIA World Fact Book this year estimates the island population at 11.4 million.

The Granma article noted the average size of Cuban families is now three people, compared to four a few years ago. With food prices soaring and huge deficiencies in housing and transportation, Cubans often complain that they can’t afford to have more children.

The population shrinkage appears to be attributable solely to the reduced birth rate because infant mortality and life expectancy remain on a par with the world’s most developed nations and emigration has fallen off in the 10 months since President Fidel Castro stepped down while recuperating from a grave but undisclosed illness.

Figures published by the U.S. Coast Guard and Border Patrol respectively show declines in the number of Cuban migrants intercepted at sea and those who make landfall and are allowed to stay under the U.S. government’s ``wet foot, dry foot’’ policy.

Posted by Carol J. Williams in Miami