Declining Desire: Spaniards Shy Away From Parenthood
Conservatives cited pessimism about the situation in Spain and the world as a reason at a higher rate than leftist voters.
Conservatives cited pessimism about the situation in Spain and the world as a reason at a higher rate than leftist voters.
The conservative government believes housing support and tax benefits, not immigration to be the solution.
As bemusing as it is to imagine Boris Johnson scratching his head over Barbie, I was pleased to see him pick out the challenge to modernity nestled amongst the bubblegum pink hues: “[Barbieland] has children, but no babies. It is a parable about the destiny of humanity.”
Despite its birth rate sinking to a ten-year low, the population of Germany nevertheless climbed to 84.3 million people in 2022—more people than have ever lived in the country before—as net migration amounted to a record-setting 1.5 million people.
Italy’s birth rate continues to be among the lowest in Europe and while some pro-family policies have been enacted, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has promised more to come and reiterated her vow to push back against demographic decline.
For Meloni, the problem is not only financial but ideological. This observation is shared by Pope Francis, who also denounced “a culture that is unfriendly, if not an enemy, of the family.”
For a long time, France was able to boast of a fertility rate close to 2 children per woman in the 2000s, its fertility rate is now around 1.8.
Speaking of the need among some people to repeat the mistakes of the past: the saga of Bud Light and its recent public-relations disaster is being amended with another chapter.
Twenty years ago, Central Europe had the lowest birth rate in the EU. The region has seen the greatest improvement in recent years. At the same time, female employment is also at its peak, the at-risk-of-poverty rate is much lower, and real earnings are rising steadily.
“We can’t give in to the idea of ethnic replacement: the Italians are having fewer children and we’re replacing them with someone else. That is not the way,” Francesco Lollobrigida, Italy’s Agriculture Minister said.
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