Posted on 03/18/2006 3:13:31 PM PST by NYer
BERLIN, Germany, March 17, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Germany’s birth rate is now the lowest in Europe. Only 8.5 babies were born in Germany last year for every 1,000 residents.
In 1964, 1.36 million babies were born in Germany. In 2005, half as many children were born, at just 680,000—the birth rate hasn’t been this low since the end of the Second World War, according to the Federal Statistical Office.
The German city of Chemnitz, in former East Germany, has the lowest birth rate in the world, with 6.9 babies born per 1,000 residents.
“The tradition in the 1950s, 60s and even the 80s in Germany was that a mother was only a mother and looked after the children,” Michael Hüther, who heads up Cologne’s economics institute, told the Guardian.
“We are reaching a critical point,” he said to Die Welt newspaper. “The number of births now determines what happens in the next decade-and-a-half to two decades. You can’t revise it afterwards. The availability of human capital will get worse, and act as a brake on growth.”
Efforts to shore up the birth rate have been mainly unsuccessful so far. Germany’s family minister Ursula von der Leyen introduced tax breaks last year to help couples that wanted children. Increased nursery places and a new state-funded welfare scheme requiring men to take two months off work for families to qualify were also introduced, but none of the changes have had a significant impact on the rate of birth.
All of Europe is facing the same plummeting birthrate. According to Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, by 2050 Europe’s population will have fallen by around 1.5%, or 7 million people. The birth rate in Britain is at 12 births per 1,000 residents. In France the number is 12.7, in the Netherlands 11.9, and in Ireland 15.2.
In Eastern Europe and the Baltic states, birth rates are falling as well. Poland’s rate is 9.3, Bulgaria is at 9 and Latvia has one of the lowest rates, at 8.8.
Germans are a selfish lot...and grumpy, too. But you're right, the Turks will have the babies that the Germans don't want to bother with. Wonder what they will decide to call Deutschland when they take over?
Engineering problem....
Thanks. I just had a heart attack laughing!
I thought the world was overpopulated! too many people /s
The uneducated think this is no big deal. A simple population model of this trend is a complete disaster.
Hey, maybe Pope John Paul II really was right, after all.
I cringe when I hear young couples say "we can't afford to have kids".
Disagree. The Roman empire fell due to same forces. Barbarians (Huns, goths, germans..) moved across the border, were quasa-assimilated, bought off, etc. The rest is history.
C.W.
Amazing. Never in history has a country been invaded and conquered by inviting in outsiders and then suicidally letting them take over the country by sheer numbers.
USA?
< ];^)
Just damnnnn OUCH
I think Rummy ancenstor came from Here GERMANY did UK Sunday Telegraph dig up Rummy German family
I hear Rumster have 4 kids and how many grandchildren already
Bump!
In my time spent in Germany, I've always found most Germans to have the yuppie attitude toward children and "breeders." If you have many children, they see you as "uneducated" and "third world."
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
"Let's dance"
exactly ... muslim countries are populating like wildfire with under-20 populationss reaching nearly 50%
This birth dearth seems to be affecting all of Europe. I thought I read on FR a couple months ago the French were paying families (native) something like the equivalent of $1,400/month/child to encourage more French babies.
TOUCH THE MONKEY OMG I forgot about HIMMM LOLOLOL!
Now I am happy like LITTLE GIRLLLLL ROFL
Horrors!!
Conservative genes polluting the elite gene pool? They'd probably consider your offer a threat
/snigger
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