Germany: falling birth rate spreads alarm on future population
May 24, 2010
The latest German government statistics show the country's birth rate dropping to its lowest level since the end of World War II. The number of births dropped 3.6% in 2009, and the fertility rate has sunk to 1.38 children per woman-- far below the "replacement level." With European nations suddenly discovering that the number of children is insufficient to meet the future needs of an aging population, some critics are calling for government policies to spur population growth.
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Posted by: Don Vicente -
May. 24, 2010 11:56 PM ET USA
And, of course, these are the same people who are complaining about the tidal wave of Muslim "guest workers" changing European society beyond recovery...
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Posted by: voxfem -
May. 24, 2010 8:05 PM ET USA
Not sure why there is all this surprise and shock. Gunter Grass wrote a book about this back in 1990. The real question is why our government seems to think this trend is something to emulate.
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Posted by: BobJ70777069 -
May. 24, 2010 6:40 PM ET USA
Why don't they make condoms, other methods of artificial birth control illegal, and abortion? That would get the birth rate up. The "progressives" push for easy abortion on one hand and cry about the birth rate on the other. Do they think there's no connection?
