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ON THIS DAY EDITORS' BLOG 

Last Updated: Monday, 27 March 2006, 05:44 GMT 06:44 UK 

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The EU's baby blues

Birth rates in the European Union are falling fast.

In the first of a series about motherhood and the role of 

the state in encouraging couples to have more children,

the BBC News website's Clare Murphy asks why

governments are so concerned about the size of their

populations. 

William The Conqueror was counting people nearly 1,000 years

ago, and his European descendants are still at it. Small,

today's politicians contend, isn't beautiful.

Europe's working-age

population is shrinking as

fertility rates decline. In a fit of 

gloom, one German minister

recently warned of the country

"turning the light out" if its birthrate did not pick up.

Efforts to encourage couples to

breed have a chequered history

and, for many, recall fascist

pasts. Mussolini heavily taxed

single men in his Battle for

Births, Hitler awarded medals to

women with large families in his quest for a superior German

race.

No-one is yet berating bachelors or mooting medallions for

multiple births. But Europe's many governments are scrambling

to find a solution.

Who cares? 

Demographic decline causes anxiety because it is thought to

go hand-in-hand with economic decline.

With fewer, younger workers to pay the health and pension

bills of an elderly population, states face an unprecedented

fiscal burden.

The dependency ratio of those aged 65 and over to those of 

working age looks set to double from one-to-four to one-to-

two in 2050.

How can Europe, which

increasingly sees itself as a

counterweight to US

hegemony, claim equal status

when it is being outpaced by

American population growth?

If current forecasts prove

correct, then the US - which

currently has 160m fewer

people than the EU - will have

equalled it by 2050.

Increasing immigration is, in

theory, one option for Europe,

but most agree it is politically

unfeasible in the current

climate.

Others stress that it would not in any event solve the problem

in the longer term - the migrants would themselves grow old

and their own fertility patterns would start to match those of 

the country which received them.

Another option is to increase the productivity of the working

population, drawing more people into the workforce - and

more controversially - making them stay there longer. But

moves to raise the retirement age tend not to play well with

No EU country has the 2.1 birthrateneeded to keep a population stable

FERTILITY RATE

In Europe 2.1 children perwoman is considered to bethe population replacementlevel. These are nationalaverages 

Ireland: 1.99France: 1.90Norway: 1.81Sweden 1.75UK: 1.74Netherlands: 1.73Germany: 1.37Italy: 1.33Spain: 1.32Greece: 1.29

Source: Eurostat - 2004 figures

At-a-glance: National policies 

EUROPE'S FALLING BIRTHRATES

Overview: The EU's baby blues

FEATURES

'Childfree'The growing groupwho have chosen notto have children.

Russia looks to its fathers

French aim for 'le baby boom'

Polish fertility rates tumble

Germany ponders new incentives

Italians go off child-bearing

Norway's model 'helps birth rate'

BACKGROUND

Parenting policiesHow European statesare tackling low birthrates

HAVE YOUR SAY

Should Europe act?

TOP EUROPE STORIES 

French free ex-Iran PM's assassin 

Greece receives EU bail-out

money 

German hostages 'freed in

Yemen' 

7/27/2019 Birth Rates in the European Union Are Falling - BBC

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electorates.

That leaves boosting birth rates.

Some analysts believe the fears are exaggerated. It seems

richly ironic, they argue, to be worrying about falling numbers

of people and, at the same time, to be fretting about the

drain on natural resources, and the jostle for living space.

In addition, women's ability to control the number of children

they have is a positive development, freeing them from a life

of ongoing pregnancies.

Those who want to boost the birth rate do not necessarily

disagree on this last point.

But, they wonder, are women restricting the size of families

through free choice - or because financial concerns and

worries about their position at work prevent them from having

as many children as they might like.

Mixed messages 

Many European countries already have policies in place -

some more explicitly pro-natal than others.

Sweden, stressing gender equality rather than stating directly

that it wants to boost birth rates, provides a mixed package

of higher pay for women, flexible working for both parents and

high quality childcare.

France, meanwhile, is positively

proud of its avowed pro-

natalism, providing a series of 

tax and cash incentives for

those having babies.

Other countries have also

started toying with the idea of 

straight payments. Poland,

where the population has fallen

by half a million in the last six

years, has recently passed legislation that will see women

paid for each child they bear.

In Italy, where the population could shrink by as much as onethird by 2050, one town has started offering couples 10,000

euros for each newborn baby.

How successful cash is as an incentive is still unclear. One

study suggests that, even when cash allowances are boosted

by 25%, the fertility rate climbs just marginally - perhaps by

as little as 0.6%.

And the impact of generous maternity leave schemes and

state- subsidised child care has also yet to be fully

established.

Swedish and French birth rates may be higher than in much of 

Europe, but despite their respective systems, both countries

still lag behind the holy grail of 2.1 children per woman needed

to keep a population stable.

Europe is still feeling its way in this area, and may, some say,

have to come to terms with the fact that there are women

remaining childless or having small families by choice.

Recent evidence from Germany suggests that women may

actually want fewer children than the two so often seen as

the desirable norm - indeed some are happy with none at all.

Are falling birth rates something Europe should be

worrying about? Or should countries embrace natural

decline? What would persuade you to have more

children? Send us your views using the link below. 

Click here to send us your comments 

Who will support an ageingpopulace?

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