German childbirth rate lowest since WW2

STUFF.CO.NZ ^ | Saturday, March 18, 2006 | Reuters

[MinorityRepublican]

BERLIN: The number of children born in Germany last year fell to its lowest level since at least World War Two, data showed on Friday, putting the birth rate well below that required to maintain the current population.

The Federal Statistics Office estimated that between 680,000 and 690,000 children were born in Europe's largest economy last year, implying a birth rate of between 1.33 and 1.36 children per woman - one of the lowest rates in the European Union.

In 2004, some 706,000 children, or 1.36 per woman, were born in Germany, a rate which has only been surpassed twice since German re-unification in 1990, the Office added. It noted some 2.1 births per woman were needed to keep the population steady.

Although the birth rate was as low as 1.24 in 1994, the number of children has gone down for years, because the pool of women able to give birth has been shrinking steadily.

Domestic politics is awash with proposals to make Germany a more family-friendly place. Economists warn that unless the demographic trend improves fast, the economy will suffer and the country could be unable to meet its long-term liabilities.

Germany's welfare system, funded by contributions from those in work, has come under increasing strain in recent years as life expectancy has increased and the number of those paying in has fallen.

[Lorianne]

It's not just the women who refuse to breed.

[When do we get liberated?]

To breed with?

[Cannoneer No. 4]

It's the women who refuse motherhood. They are choosing extinction.

[Lorianne]

No, its women AND men who are refusing parenthood.

[festus]

Bill Clinton's supposed to be traveling to Germany soon. I figure that this trend will reverse itself about nine months after that.

[conservative physics]

so much for the superior race theory...

a family, race, or group that stops producing children is a genetic dead end. Western societies need to start having children again or we will go the way of the Neanderthals.

[HostileTerritory]

Blue States have very low fertility, while Red States have signficantly higher fertility.

With some big caveats. Blue states with high rates of immigration and large numbers of young families have relatively high fertility rates--California, Illinois, and New Jersey among them. New Jersey's fertility rate is higher than Tennessee's, for example, and significantly higher than Alabama's.

States in economic decline, as in the Rust Belt, the Great Plains, and northern New England, have the lowest fertility rates. They're a mix of blue, red, and purple states.

It generally correlates with economic growth and immigration. You need both to have high fertility rates, and both red and blue states qualify.

Utah and Idaho are off the charts due to one unusual factor.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0763849.html

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

If the German's don't attack somebody every 50 years or so, they lose their mojo.

[FormerACLUmember]

Of the 16 states with the lowest fertility: all were taken by Kerry.

Bush carried 25 of the 26 states with the highest fertility.


Red State = fertlie and family-friendly
Blue State = impotence, sterility, abortion, and infertility (= rapidly dying Europe)

[FormerACLUmember]

Of the 16 states with the lowest fertility: all were taken by Kerry.

Bush carried 25 of the 26 states with the highest fertility.


Red State = fertlie and family-friendly
Blue State = impotence, sterility, abortion, and infertility (= rapidly dying Europe)

[HostileTerritory]

Bush carried 25 of the 26 states with the highest fertility.

Not possible. Both Hawaii and California are in the top 10 for fertility rates, and Illinois is not far behind.

Certainly places where middle-class families can afford homes in good suburbs are heavily Republican, but the statistics don't bear out the rather broader picture you're painting.

[LWalk18]

A lot of people are getting their statistics from Steyn's articles re: demography, but I have seen where he got that statistic and he dropped one small but important word- white. Bush carried 25 of the 26 states with the highest white fertility.

[HostileTerritory]

That makes perfect sense. Thank you.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

What reproductive rights do men have?

What can a man do if he is willing to be a father but his pregnant partner is not willing to be a mother? Especially in Europe?

[FormerACLUmember]

thanks for the clarification.

[elcid1970]

Bring back the Lebensborn brood farms. Willing young women of pure Aryan blood will produce healthy children for the Fatherland by coupling with.....

Hoppla! Nicht willige Niemann!

[MinorityRepublican]

If the German's don't attack somebody every 50 years or so, they lose their mojo.

Invasion of France is long overdue......

[MrEdd]

France Surrenders. First.

[wardaddy]

I have found that in conservative families that men want children a bit more than women.

The reasons are obvious I guess.

purely observation

here on FR it's about even I'd wager....and red state folks are more likely just like you said

[wardaddy]

that is pretty odd considering that quite a few of those Blue states are now more hispanic than black as the number one minority and in some cases non-hispanic whites are now a mere plurality

one would think that it would be quite different with Catholic mexicans

the black rate has really dropped since welfare reform and black abortions have skyrocketed....unforeseen blowback to an otherwise conservative idea

I am pretty sure that all the Red States except Florida are White majority except Florida and Texas which are skewed by Cubans in Florida who share culture almost identical to Southern whites voting-wise and Texas's notorious conservative Mexican ethnics....who liked Arbusto..sus hijo favorito

in any event.....some crackers somewhere are obviously having some children

i'm doing my part....soon to be five