German Nation Slowly Dying Out

I remember years ago a priest refer to artificial contraception as a sin against the human race, as you're intentionally thwarting nature's way of reproducing itself.  Below is the sad story of what's happening in Germany, and in many other Western nations, it's literally dying out.  I wonder who, a generation from now, will support Germany's vast welfare state with so many retirees and so few young people.

Our Western culture needs to return to the idea of children as a blessing, not a pain or extra expense, and start having large families again.

No babies please, we're German

Sun May 15, 5:25 PM ET

BERLIN (AFP) - Germans have stopped having children -- and the number of couples opting for a childless life is rising every year to the consternation of politicians and employers in the eurozone's biggest economy.

While figures released by the French government this month showed France's population could balloon from its current level of 60.2 million to 75 million by 2050, the United Nations predicts that Germany's is set to plummet from 82 million to 70.8 million in the same period.

"I am nearly 35 years old, I am married and I haven't got any children," said Donna, participating in a recent discussion on the Internet site of women's magazine Brigitte.

"There is no particular reason apart from the fact that I have never imagined myself having any."

A study by Germany's federal institute for demographic research showed that 26 percent of men and 15 percent of women aged between 20 and 39 do not want to start a family, a sharp rise since 1992 when the figures were 12 percent of men and 10 percent of women.

"There is an increasing belief that not having children is the ideal way of life," the authors of the study concluded.

This growing trend has many people in Germany wringing their hands.

With a rapidly ageing population, Germany is now distancing itself from its European neighbours in other ways too.

German women, for example, want an average of 1.7 children compared with at least two in most other European countries. Forty percent of university-educated women of child-bearing age are without a child.

"Abandoning the idea of children is abandoning the idea of life," Otto Schily, the radical lawyer turned German interior minister, said recently. He should know: he has two daughters.

For many women however having children means abandoning their careers.

Working mothers complain that all too often they are seen as "Rabenmutter", which translates as "cruel mothers" -- women who dump their kids in childcare so they can pursue their personal goals.

Yet in a country where schools generally finish for the day at 1:30 pm, balancing work and children is a headache.

"Places in creches are hard to get, and expensive," said Andrea, 35, in the Brigitte chat room. "I just can't imagine myself having a child, staying at home and becoming financially dependent on my partner or the State."

The German government has pledged to create 230,000 daycare places by 2010 and the idea of extending the school day is under discussion in some regions.

Germans also tend to be students longer than in other countries, with many still enrolled at university and college until they are at least 30.

This lengthy study period is "a reliable method of contraception," said the minister responsible for families, Renate Schmidt.

The trend towards childlessness is recent -- until the start of the 1990s almost 60 percent of women aged between 25 and 29 had a baby. The figure has plunged to 29 percent today.

Many recent studies have pinpointed psychological factors as putting the brake on the desire to start a family.

"In Germany, having children isn't sexy," said Marie-Luise Lewicki, the editor of Eltern (Parents) magazine.

"We don't just need creches and day-long schooling, we need a change in society," she said.

The federal institute for demographic research said the main reason cited for not having children was the lack of either a partner or a stable relationship, which accounted for 83 percent of respondents.

However, nearly 60 percent said concerns for the future of their potential children had dissuaded them.

In a different study, released by the Forsa polling institute in January, only 29 percent of women pointed to the financial burden of a child and only 39 percent named not wanting to give up their career as their reason for not having children.

Having a family "seems to have become an abstract idea", the federal institute concluded.

Comments

[McO]

I saw the president of the Population Research Institute on EWTN recently. From what I recall, Italy and Spain have birth rates in the 1.1 or 1.2 range, where 2.1 is the rate necessary for a generation to 'replace itself'.

Some people feel the missing Europeans will be replaced by Muslim immigrants and their children.

[McO]

Here's an article from the above mentioned institute:

http://www.pop.org/main.cfm?EID=674

Let's just say that Germany isn't the only country with a problem.

[louielouie]

McO hit the nail on the head.

the paragraph from the article commenting on the french population is mis-leading, in the context of what the article is saying about the european population as a whole, and the german population in particular.
how's that for a run-on sentence????
the current muslim population of france is approx. 26%. that's why you see such a large % of polls taken in france being against anything american. this, of course, does not change the fact that the french are still french.
the problem the france has, is the muslims are not assimilating into french culture. the muslims want the french to assimilate into their culture. shari'a. what the article does state about the european birthrate is correct though, but only for european culture. the muslim culture is the reason for the birthrate explosion in france.

[cassandra]

Ah yes, no time, going to college forever, not interested, no reliable mate, who needs the hassle, having too much fun.

Sounds like my life. But at this late date God has opened my eyes to see what really I have wasted. Takes a lotta booze and partying to be that blind for that long.

[TM Lutas]

The provisions of a vast welfare state require a constantly growing population. Anything that eliminates this, bloody war, massive plague, or a selfish desire for personal fun without thought to creating the next generation is guaranteed to cause a collapse of the system. This makes the current situation one where they are also being extremely childish.

[Miriam Seshadri]

It's not just because of a welfare state (although I agree that the prospect of having babies just so they can pay taxes is not very appealing). It's because our 'society' is based on unrelenting competition and there are few scruples about ethics or real commitment to communities anymore. A lot of young , let's say it, white people are perfectly well aware that the game is stacked against them massively and decide that they can barely look after themselves, let alone offspring. It is depressing that my husband received a much better education in his third world country than I did in my first. And it wasn't for lack of trying: we just had absolutely no money, either in my family or in the public education system. We did have a lot of books but a history degree doesn't get you very far :) All our teachers were depressed, all the blue collar/engineering work was being outsourced and it was made pretty clear to us that the white collar jobs were not for public school fodder like us. It's so much more tempting to just give up than to have more kids so some exhorbitantly paid executive can meet his profit expectations. The bigwigs think that increased religosity will increase the birthrate but I doubt it. Reformation of the deliberate policies of driving us all into massive debt would do much more to encourage young people to want to marry and have kids.

[James]

"Sounds like my life. But at this late date God has opened my eyes to see what really I have wasted. Takes a lotta booze and partying to be that blind for that long."

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Hey Cassandra,

Humble yourself before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

No matter what or how much was wasted, turn yourself over to Him, and you will find all sorts of wonderful doorways and paths opening to you.

God bless.

James