Posted on 01/28/2006 8:05:41 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
Chancellor Angela Merkel has pushed Germany's low birth rate to the top of the political agenda for the first time since the Nazi era as an expert said the nation could die out if the trend continued.
A third of German women are not having children, a remarkable figure even compared with low birth rates in the rest of Europe. Among graduates the figure is as high as 40 per cent.
Every year 100,000 more Germans die than are born and each generation is shrinking by about a third.
Even in the poverty and despair after the Second World War, more babies were born than now. The figure has slumped to 1.3 children per woman, far short of the replacement rate of 2.1.
Some observers attribute the trend to young people's reluctance to sacrifice their comfortable way of life and leisure time to bring up the next generation.
Others argue that German society expects women to stay at home to look after the family and that child care is inadequate and expensive.
Mrs Merkel, 51, is not the best role model: she has no children. Asked why, she said: "It just did not fit in with my career path."
But she is fully aware that the onus is on her, the country's first female leader, to improve the lot of women, raise the birth rate and put Germany back at the top as an economic power within a decade.
"If the birth rate continues to fall, Germans are at risk of dying out," said Harald Michel, the head of the Institute for Applied Demography. He foresees a future in which the workforce will be unable to support the elderly, nor indeed the country.
Past reluctance to tackle the problem is largely explained by the sensitivity of child-bearing in a country which, under the Nazis, did all it could to raise the birth rate for the state.
"The Nazi ideal of kinder, küche, kirche (children, kitchen, church) still prevails," said Jutta Schmidt, 33, a sociologist and mother of two children from Hamburg.
"The pressure on women to fulfil the maternal role, coupled with the lack of support to carry it out, such as part-time jobs and child care provision, is so great that many would rather forgo the opportunity than risk failure."
In Nazi times women were awarded motherhood medals for bearing children. Child bearing was strictly under the control of the state, not the individual.
Had Ursula von der Leyen, 47, been a mother in the Third Reich, she would have won the silver medal. She is a gynaecologist, a mother of seven and, as the family minister, is Mrs Merkel's greatest hope.
She says that Germany is "extremely backward" in its attitude towards the family. Unless the birth rate rises, "we will have to turn out the light".
Mrs von der Leyen, a member of the Christian Democratic Union, has offered women one-year wage replacement subsidies and to raise the amount of child care that can be offset against tax. But some of her proposals, such as encouraging fathers to stay at home for two months after the birth of a child, have provoked stiff opposition even from male party colleagues. They accuse her of wanting to "tie men to the nappies".
For many, child care and not money is at the root of the problem. The country that invented the kindergarten 170 years ago is pitifully lacking in child care places.
Only 10 per cent of children under three have access to pre-school care and most of those are sent home at noon, a 2001 study showed. In Denmark the figure is 64 per cent and in Britain 34 per cent.
The problem is exacerbated by employers who are unwilling to help workers with young children - and schools, most of which also close at noon.
"People have to give up their careers because there are no child care places," said Renate Köcher, the director of the Allensbach polling institute. "And because they have given up their jobs, we have neglected to create more child care places."
Germany is also a country in which everything happens comparatively late. The average starting school age is almost seven. University takes the best part of a decade to complete, so the average student is in her late twenties when she graduates.
Therefore, finding a job, particularly in these days of high unemployment, stands much higher on the list of priorities than having babies.
Heck, it's that way now in the US! Look at the Infertility Fee--where a couple who can't have children gets taxed more than the same couple with identical income who has a child.
Even many people who claim to be "conservative" have bought into the idea that it's okay to have the government penalize people with fees/higher taxes if they don't do what the government wants, by calling them "tax credits" or "deductions" if you do what Nanny says.
How about my next door neighbors who are an unnecessarily dual-income family who get more tax rebates than my single-income family does? This is something my own party pushed. It keeps moms in the the workforce by rewarding them for being there.
"Kinder, küche, kirche" was a German saying before the Nazis, kind of like "barefoot in the kitchen" here, like saying all women should be June Cleaver. It fit the Nazi ideal very well, so they used it in their propaganda and social engineering. Since they pushed it so hard, most people remember the Nazis for it, just like the swastika.
Don't beg.
They already do, it's called Kindergeld (literally, "child money"), although it isn't that much -- 154 Euros per month for the first kid and 179 Euros for each following kid, straight, non-taxable money. Plus taxes go way down with kids, and if you have enough kids you get tax breaks when buying a house, and maternity leave and medical insurance are extremely generous, etc.
All that doesn't make up for the fact that the socialist system is driving the economy down the tubes, so many don't see much of a future for any children they may have.
The answer is to glorify the homo lifestyle, raise taxes and promote no fault divorce ...
"The anointed are getting their wish -the death of the West. They think that the barbarians who take power won't murder the atheists, deconstructionists and degenerates. No fictional account could be as astonishing."
Guess I will have to wait for the barbarians to do-in the "anointed" traitors.
The Nazis had a church, The Reich Church where Adolf Hitler was supposed to be worshiped as the new Jesus.
This is a much older idea than the 1930's. I've read about the 4 K's, in books from Bismark's era. The fourth K was something about bedrooms or marriage. I'll look it up. Either way, the author is pretty slow.
The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money. --Alexis de Tocqueville
Abortion is a major reason we need illegals in our country and the Germans need immigrants in their country to sustain the economies of both countries. Singapore realized the folly of birth control years ago and now promotes families. If President Bush wants to tackle illegal immigration, let Planned Parenthood share the blame for it. Link legalized abortion to illegal immigration and take this issue away from the libs who would use it against the president and the GOP.
Thank you for reminding me of that quote. (Not that it hasn't become obvious) Perhaps I will hit the Senate list with it. Just as a reminder, ya know? :(
Just out of curiousity, does anyone know what the current global figures are for white v non-white population globally?
Who was the FReeper who put the list of "enemies of Islam" on his homepage (without asking permission, I will add)? Was he banned? I was thinking about him the other day when a friend told me he (my friend) was suspended for a short while because of anti-Muslim comments. I've been wondering recently how much freedom we have to speak out against Islam on FR, as various articles have been deleted before my eyes here.
Might be a good idea if you're an American Christian as well.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.